List of Batman family enemies
The Batman family enemies are a collection of fictional supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. These characters are depicted as adversaries of the superhero Batman and his allies.
Since Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27, his supporting cast has expanded to include other superheroes, and has become what is now called the "Batman family". As with most superheroes, a cast of recurring enemies to the Batman family have been introduced throughout the years, collectively referred to as Batman's "rogues gallery". Many characters from Batman's rogues gallery who are criminally insane become patients at Arkham Asylum after they are apprehended.
The Batman family's rogues gallery has been well received, considered by many journalists to be one of the greatest superhero rogues galleries of all comic books.
Supervillains and themed criminals
The following fictional characters are listed in alphabetical order by the name of their supervillain persona. Each character's first appearance and brief biographies of each fictional character are also listed, pertaining to their fictional histories and characteristics in the DC Universe.Sometimes more than one fictional character will share a supervillain persona. In those cases, the name of the character most associated with said supervillain identity will have their name in bold in their biography.
Classic rogues gallery
Listed below are the Batman family's most enduring and iconic adversaries.| Villain | Creator | First appearance | Fictional biography |
| Bane | Chuck Dixon Doug Moench Graham Nolan | Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 | The international masked criminal known as Bane has immense strength that comes from a super-steroid called Venom. Bane's raw power, coupled with his genius level intellect, makes him a considerable threat to Batman, having once succeeded in breaking Batman's back. |
| Black Mask | Doug Moench Tom Mandrake | Batman #386 | Roman Sionis is a corrupt businessman and crime lord who has a fixation with masks. Sionis wears a black mask resembling a human skull that gives him limited mind control abilities over the weak-minded. |
| Black Mask | Alan Grant Norm Breyfogle | ' #1 | Jeremiah Arkham became the new Black Mask following the death of Roman Sionis. Arkham, the director of Arkham Asylum, began to develop multiple personality disorder, leading to him taking on the Black Mask identity. |
| Catwoman | Bob Kane Bill Finger | Batman #1 | Selina Kyle is an accomplished jewel thief. Although traditionally considered a villain, she is often portrayed as an antihero. She also has an on-again, off-again romantic relationship with Batman. |
| Clayface | Bill Finger Bob Kane | Detective Comics #40 | Actor Basil Karlo went mad when he learned that there would be a remake of one of his films with another actor in the lead role. Adopting the alias of the film's villain, "Clayface", he attacked several of the remake's cast and crew at the points in filming when they were supposed to die before being stopped by Batman and Robin. Later he gained shapeshifting powers and became the Ultimate Clayface. |
| Clayface | Bill Finger Sheldon Moldoff | Detective Comics #298 | Treasure-hunter Matt Hagen is transformed into the monstrous Clayface II by a pool of radioactive protoplasm. He now possesses superstrength and can change his claylike body into any form. |
| Clayface | Len Wein Marshall Rogers | Detective Comics #478 | Preston Payne suffered from hyperpituitarism, so he worked at S.T.A.R. Labs to search for a cure. He obtained a sample of Matt Hagen's blood, isolating an enzyme which he introduced into his own bloodstream. However, his flesh began to melt, so he built an anti-melting exoskeleton to not only preserve himself, but to also prevent him from touching anyone, as he also gained the ability to melt people into protoplasm with a touch. This was until he learned that he needed to spread his melting contagion onto others to survive. He later met and fell in love with Lady Clay, and the two had a son named Cassius "Clay" Payne. |
| Clayface | Len Wein Marshall Rogers | Outsiders #21 | Lady Clay has superpowers similar to that of the second Clayface, Matt Hagen. She meets and falls in love with the third Clayface, Preston Payne, and gives birth to Cassius "Clay" Payne. |
| Clayface | Doug Moench Kelley Jones | Batman #550 | Cassius "Clay" Payne, otherwise known as the Claything, is the son of Preston Payne and Lady Clay who inherited the abilities of his parents. Payne was separated from his parents and was experimented on by the government. Unlike his parents, Payne can only keep his metahuman abilities while awake and, if a piece of his clay body is separated from him, it can grow a mind of its own. |
| Clayface | Doug Moench Kelley Jones | Batman #550 | Doctor Peter Malley, also known as the second Claything, was a DEO scientist who was transformed when he merged with a sample of Cassius Payne. Doctor Malley has the ability to melt objects simply by looking at them. |
| Clayface | Ed Brubaker Darwyn Cooke | Catwoman #1 | Todd Russell is a serial killer with the ability to transform into virtually any shape and size who targets prostitutes. |
| Clayface | A.J. Lieberman | ' #60 | Johnny Williams is a former firefighter who gained a claylike appearance and the ability to shapeshift following an explosion at a chemical plant. He was manipulated by Hush and the Riddler to transform his appearance into that of Jason Todd in order to deceive Batman, which ultimately failed. |
| Clayface | Grant Morrison Chris Burnham | Batman Incorporated #6 | The Clayface of Japan is a samurai with abilities similar to the previous Clayfaces. |
| Deadshot | Bob Kane David Vern Reed Lew Schwartz | Batman #59 | Floyd Lawton is an excellent sniper assassin who, when wielding a gun or projectile, never misses a shot. He is often considered to be the second-greatest assassin in the DC Universe, the first being Deathstroke the Terminator. |
| Deathstroke | Marv Wolfman George Pérez | New Teen Titans #2 | Slade Wilson is a ruthless metahuman mercenary and the world's greatest assassin, known to take on seemingly impossible jobs and the toughest targets as a personal challenge. |
| Firefly | France Herron Dick Sprang | Detective Comics #184 | Garfield Lynns is an orphan who became a pyromaniac, having developed a fireproof suit with a flamethrower to further pursue his "hobby". He invents numerous weapons that involve light to commit crimes with. |
| Firefly | Bill Finger Sheldon Moldoff | Batman #126 | Ted Carson was a man of wealth before he gambled away his fortune. Desperate, Carson turned to crime, becoming the second Firefly. |
| Harley Quinn | Paul Dini Bruce Timm | The Batman Adventures #12 | Dr. Harleen Quinzel was the Joker's psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum until she fell in love with him and subsequently reinvented herself as his madcap sidekick, Harley Quinn. She is often mistreated by the Joker, but that rarely changes how she feels about him. |
| Hugo Strange | Bob Kane Bill Finger | Detective Comics #36 | Professor Hugo Strange is an insane psychologist who uses his mastery of chemistry to create a serum that turns his victims into mindless monsters who obey his every command. He has succeeded in deducing that Batman is Bruce Wayne. |
| Hush | Jeph Loeb Jim Lee | Batman #609 | Dr. Thomas Elliot is a brilliant surgeon who targets both Bruce Wayne, his childhood friend, and Batman. |
| Joker | Bob Kane Bill Finger Jerry Robinson | Batman #1 | The Joker is a homicidal maniac with a clown-like appearance, bent on creating havoc in Gotham City and fighting a never-ending battle against Batman. His arsenal of weapons includes razor-sharp playing cards, acid-squirting flowers, and fatal laughing gas. He is Batman's archenemy, as well as the most famous and recurring villain. |
| Killer Croc | Gerry Conway Don Newton Gene Colan | Batman #357 | Waylon Jones has a medical condition that warped his body into a massive crocodile-like form. As Killer Croc descended into madness, he sharpened his teeth to razor points and began murdering innocent victims. He possesses super-strength and is immune to toxins. |
| Killer Moth | Bill Finger Dick Sprang Lew Schwartz | Batman #63 | Drury Walker, alias Cameron Van Cleer, is a moth-themed criminal, known for being the first villain to have been defeated by Batgirl. |
| Mad Hatter | Bob Kane Bill Finger | Batman #49 | Jervis Tetch is inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to commit crimes. He uses his mind control technology to bend people to his will, and is never seen without a large and fantastic hat. He desires Batman's cowl, even if it means killing Batman. |
| Man-Bat | Frank Robbins Neal Adams | Detective Comics #400 | Dr. Kirk Langstrom invented a serum to give him echolocation to cure his growing deafness. The serum had an unforeseen side-effect, transforming him into the monstrous Man-Bat. |
| Mister Freeze | Bob Kane Sheldon Moldoff David Wood | Batman #121 | Dr. Victor Fries is a scientist who accidentally spilled cryogenic chemicals on himself while inventing a freeze-gun. Now requiring subzero temperatures to survive, he uses freeze-inducing weaponry and must wear a fully contained, refrigerated ice-suit. Fries was later reinvented as a tragic figure and occasional antihero, specifically a brilliant cryogenicist whose beloved wife Nora fell terminally ill. He obsessively searched for a way to cure her, until an industrial accident caused by a greedy business executive turned Fries into a mutant who can only survive in subzero temperatures. |
| Penguin | Bob Kane Bill Finger | Detective Comics #58 | Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot is a devious, short-statured, penguin-themed crime boss who is seldom seen without at least one of his trick umbrellas. The Penguin uses his nightclub, the Iceberg Lounge, as a front for his criminal activities. He is one of Batman's few adversaries who is sane and in full control of his actions. |
| Poison Ivy | Robert Kanigher Sheldon Moldoff | Batman #181 | Pamela Lillian Isley, a former student of advanced botanical biochemistry, employs plants of all varieties and their derivatives in her crimes. She has the ability to control all plant life and can create new henchmen with her mutated seeds. She is immune to all plant-based poisons. |
| Ra's al Ghul | Dennis O'Neil Neal Adams | Batman #232 | Ra's al Ghul is a centuries-old international eco-terrorist who believes that his actions help "bring balance" to the world. Ra's al Ghul is the founder of the League of Assassins and is fully aware of Batman's secret identity. Impressed by Batman's skills and intellect, he wants the Dark Knight to take his place as heir to the Demon. |
| Riddler | Bill Finger Dick Sprang | Detective Comics #140 | Edward Nashton, a.k.a. Edward Nigma, is a criminal mastermind who has a compulsion to challenge Batman by leaving clues to his crimes in the form of riddles, puzzles, and word-games. Nigma's intelligence rivals that of Batman. Nigma often carries a question mark-tipped cane around with him, as well as many other trick puzzle gimmicks. |
| Scarecrow | Bob Kane Bill Finger | World's Finest Comics #3 | Professor Jonathan Crane was an outcast in childhood due to constant bullying, until he grew up to face his fears as a psychologist and biochemist in the specialization of fear. Kicked out of a university for his unorthodox teaching methods, he now dresses symbolically as a scarecrow, and employs a toxin that causes its victims to hallucinate the presence of what they most fear. |
| Solomon Grundy | Alfred Bester Paul Reinman | All-American Comics #61 | Cyrus Gold was a Gotham City merchant who was murdered and thrown into Slaughter Swamp, where he was transformed into an undead, incredibly strong, zombie-like creature. Solomon Grundy was initially an enemy of Green Lantern, but has had numerous encounters with Batman. |
| Two-Face | Bob Kane Bill Finger | Detective Comics #66 | Harvey Dent was a district attorney until half of his face was disfigured after being assaulted by mob boss Sal Maroni. Having developed dissociative identity disorder, Harvey Dent is obsessed with the number two and the concept of duality and must make most of his decisions with the flip of his signature coin: one side clean, the other side scarred. As Two-Face, Harvey Dent commits crimes that are themed around the number two and the concept of duality. |
| Ventriloquist | Alan Grant John Wagner Norm Breyfogle | Detective Comics #583 | Arnold Wesker is a small, mild-mannered ventriloquist. Under his dummy Scarface's psychological influence, the Ventriloquist is a dangerous crimeboss. He was among the many villains that were executed by the second Tally Man. |
| Ventriloquist | Paul Dini Don Kramer | Detective Comics #827 | Peyton Riley, called "Sugar" by Scarface, became the second Ventriloquist after the death of Arnold Wesker. |
| Ventriloquist | Gail Simone | Batgirl #20 | The third Ventriloquist, Shauna Belzer, is obsessed with murder. Through the use of telekinesis, Belzer murders innocent people with her "partner", a puppet she controls named Ferdie. Belzer is primarily an enemy of Batgirl. |
| Victor Zsasz | Alan Grant Norm Breyfogle | #1 | Victor Zsasz is a serial killer whose modus operandi involves slitting the throats of his victims, then arranging the bodies in lifelike poses, such as a family watching TV or several people playing poker. He cuts a tally mark onto his own body for each of his victims. |
Other recurring adversaries
These are major Batman family adversaries that have not quite reached the status of Batman's classic rogues gallery.| Villain | Creator | First appearance | Fictional biography |
| [|Anarky] | Alan Grant Norm Breyfogle | Detective Comics #608 | Lonnie Machin, sometimes called Moneyspider, is a teenage prodigy that creates improvised gadgets in order to subvert governments. His violent methods and political philosophy set him at odds with Batman and Robin. |
| Anarky | Chuck Dixon Michael Netzer | Detective Comics #654 | Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong, formerly known as the General, is a young, psychotic military genius who became the second Anarky after kidnapping Lonnie Machin. Unlike Machin, who had used the Anarky identity to cause social change, Armstrong's used the persona to cause psychotic and meaningless acts of chaos and destruction. This Anarky is primarily an enemy of Tim Drake. |
| Anarky | Van Jensen Robert Venditti | Green Lantern Corps #25 | A new Anarky surfaced during the, appearing during a blackout in Gotham City. This Anarky is depicted as being an African American teenager who was shown rallying a group of followers and evacuees to occupy a sports stadium, on the basis that the area the stadium was built upon was gentrified at the expense of the local community and should be returned to them. The true name and identity of this character remains a mystery, making him the only Anarky to remain anonymous. |
| Anarky | Francis Manapul Brian Buccellato | Detective Comics #37 | Sam Young is a corrupt politician who became the most recent Anarky in order to exact revenge on the Mad Hatter. Young's sister was the Mad Hatter's first murder victim, or his first "Alice", as the Mad Hatter affectionately calls his female victims. |
| Barbatos | Grant Morrison | Batman #452 | The mysterious Bat-Devil that haunted Gotham across time, fought Vandal Savage in the Stone Age and corrupted or possessed a man that would become Simon Hurt. Later revealed to be the Hyper-Adapter, a sentient weapon from Apokolips, unleashed by Darkseid to travel across time and torment Batman. |
| Barbatos | Scott Snyder Greg Capullo | ' #1 | An ancient God-Monster from the Dark Multiverse, worshipped by Hath-Set, the Bat Tribe, the Tribe of Judas, the Court of Owls, Simon Hurt, the Black Glove and the. He had first noticed Bruce Wayne when he slipped through time and now has finally arrived in the DC Universe. |
| Brother EYE | Jack Kirby | OMAC #1 | Evil artificial intelligence created by Bruce Wayne and Michael Holt as a metahuman database and deterrent, hellbent on conquering the world. |
| Calculator | Bob Rozakis Mike Grell | Detective Comics #463 | Noah Kuttler is a highly intelligent criminal who fights Batman and the Justice League wearing a costume designed like a pocket calculator. In spite of his powerful arsenal, Calculator never makes it big as a costumed villain. Now relying solely on his intellect, he works as a successful information broker, a source of information for supervillains planning heists, charging $1,000 per question. He sees the Oracle as his nemesis and opposite number. |
| Calendar Man | Bill Finger Sheldon Moldoff | Detective Comics #259 | Julian Gregory Day is known for committing crimes that correspond with holidays and significant dates. He sometimes wears costumes to correlate with the date of the designated crime. His best-known latter day incarnation is in the miniseries ', where he is portrayed as a Hannibal Lecter-like figure, offering insight in Batman's search for Holiday, a vigilante who uses holidays as his modus operandi. |
| Catman | Bill Finger Jim Mooney | Detective Comics #311 | Thomas Blake was a world-famous trapper of jungle cats who turned to crime because he had grown bored with hunting and squandered most of his fortune. He became a burglar who committed his crimes in a cat-suit made out of an ancient African cloth he believes gives him a "cat's nine lives". |
| Clock King II | Sean McKeever Eddy Barrows | Teen Titans #56 | While the original Clock King was an enemy of the Green Arrow, the Temple Fugate version of the character leads the Terror Titans, which antagonizes Robin and the Teen Titans. |
| Cluemaster | Gardner Fox Carmine Infantino | Detective Comics #351 | Arthur Brown was a game show host until he turned to a life of crime. He is the father of Stephanie Brown. |
| Copperhead | Bob Haney Bob Brown | The Brave and the Bold #78 | The original Copperhead, John Doe, was a criminal who committed numerous thefts in Gotham City wearing a snake costume before finally being apprehended by Batman and Batgirl. He eventually becomes a hired assassin and would sell his soul to the demon-lord Neron in exchange for more power, being transformed into a deadly human/snake hybrid. |
| Copperhead | Sean McKeever Eddy Barrows | Teen Titans #56 | A second Copperhead, Nathan Prince, was introduced as a member of the Terror Titans. |
| Count Vertigo | Gerry Conway Trevor Von Eeden Vince Colletta | World's Finest Comics #251 | The victim of a hereditary inner ear defect that affected his balance, Werner Zytle had a small electronic device implanted in his right temple that compensated for this problem. Tinkering with the device, Zytle learned he was able to distort other people's perceptions, causing vertigo. Donning a costume and taking the name "Count Vertigo", he embarked on a life of crime. Despite primarily being an enemy of the Green Arrow and the Black Canary, he has been known to come into conflict with Batman. |
| Doctor Hurt | Sheldon Moldoff Charles Paris | Batman #156 | A Wayne from the second generation of the family who lived in the 18th century and worshipped the Bat-God, but instead confronted the. Corrupted or possessed by the Hyper-Adapter's energies, Wayne became extremely long-lived; renamed as Doctor Simon Hurt, he became the leader of a secret cult known as the Black Glove and the Club of Villains. He also set out to kill his descendant, Bruce Wayne. |
| Electrocutioner | Marv Wolfman Michael Fleisher Irv Novick | Batman #331 | The original Electrocutioner is an unnamed vigilante who murders criminals with electricity. He is eventually killed by Adrian Chase. |
| Electrocutioner | Marv Wolfman Jim Aparo | Detective Comics #626 | The second Electrocutioner's identity remains unknown. He is a vigilante like his predecessor. |
| Electrocutioner | Chuck Dixon Tom Lyle Scott Hanna | Detective Comics #644 | Lester Buchinsky is the brother of the original Electrocutioner who started off as a vigilante like his brother, but soon became a mercenary. |
| Great White Shark | Dan Slott Ryan Sook | #1 | Former crooked investor Warren White thought he scored a legal victory when he won the insanity plea in court. However, White learned that he had made a mistake as he found himself among Batman's most dangerous enemies within Arkham Asylum. After much torture and abuse, a disfigured Warren White was driven insane. Now one of Batman's enemies himself, Warren White serves as a benefactor for other villains. |
| Joker's Daughter | Bob Rozakis | The Batman Family #6 | Duela Dent is a psychotic young woman with an obsession with the Joker. In order to try and impress the Joker, Duela began a series of crimes before deciding to track down the Dollmaker, who is a mad surgeon and one of the Joker's allies. When Duela found the Dollmaker, she convinced him to inject her veins with the Joker's blood, which he had been keeping in jars. She then proclaimed herself to be the Joker's "daughter", continuing her career as a supervillain. |
| KGBeast | Jim Starlin Jim Aparo | Batman #417 | Anatoli Knyazev is an ex-KGB assassin. He is among the villains who are executed by the second Tally Man. |
| Kite Man | Bill Finger Dick Sprang | Batman #133 | Charles "Chuck" Brown commits crimes by arming himself with kite-based weapons and hang-gliding on a large kite. He is among the villains who was killed by Bruno Mannheim. |
| Maxie Zeus | Dennis O'Neil Don Newton | Detective Comics #483 | Maximillian Zeus is a former history teacher who loses his mind and believes himself to be the Greek god Zeus, committing crimes modeled after Greek mythology. Completely delusional, yet quite dangerous, he usually uses electricity-based weaponry to emulate the lightning bolt of Zeus, and at one point formed the New Olympians consisting of characters based on Greek mythological characters. Though briefly cured of his delusional state, he reverted to his Maxie Zeus persona when the Joker murdered his nephew. |
| Onomatopoeia | Kevin Smith Phil Hester | Green Arrow #12 | Onomatopoeia is a serial killer who targets non-powered vigilante superheroes. He earned his name because he imitates noises around him, such as dripping taps, gunshots, etc. No personal characteristics are known about Onomatopoeia, including his real name or facial features. Onomatopoeia is a superb athlete, martial artist, and weapons expert. He carries two semi-automatic handguns, a sniper rifle, and an army knife. |
| Owlman | Gardner Fox Mike Sekowsky | Justice League of America #29 | Thomas Wayne Jr. is an exceptionally intelligent supervillain who is the Earth-Three counterpart of Bruce Wayne. He is a member of the criminal organization known as the Crime Syndicate of America, the Earth-Three equivalent of the Justice League and one-time ally of Lex Luthor. On Prime Earth, he is one of the leaders of the Court of Owls, under the name of. |
| Prometheus | Grant Morrison Arnie Jorgensen | New Year's Evil: Prometheus #1 | While the original Prometheus, Curtis Calhoun, was an enemy of the Blue Beetle, the most notable villain to use the name is a twisted mirror image of Batman. As a child, he watched in horror as police slaughtered his parents in a Bonnie and Clyde-style shoot-out. He swore revenge upon "justice". |
| Rag Doll | Gardner Fox Lou Ferstadt | Flash Comics #36 | Peter Merkel is a master contortionist and hypnotist who has fought Batman on many occasions. Since The New 52, he has been an inmate at Arkham Asylum. |
| Rag Doll | Gail Simone Dale Eaglesham | Villains United # 1 | Peter Merkel Jr. is the son of the original Rag Doll who was born with normal limbs, but underwent surgery to become a contortionist supervillain like his father. |
| Ratcatcher | Alan Grant John Wagner Norm Breyfogle | Detective Comics #585 | Otis Flannegan is a one-time rat catcher who turns to a life of crime. He has the ability to communicate with and train rats, and uses them to plague Gotham City. Shortly after the Infinite Crisis began, Ratcatcher was killed by an OMAC agent in hiding who identified the Ratcatcher as a gamma level threat and vaporized him. |
| Reverse-Flash | John Broome Carmine Infantino | The Flash #139 | Eobard Thawne is a speedster from the 25th century, who went insane on discovering he would become a villain. He is behind Flashpoint, where he was killed by Thomas Wayne but brought back to life, later developing the new grudge over his killer and his family. Opposed Batman in The Button, where he was decimated by an unknown being. Eventually, he was brought back to life even after this death. |
| Riddler's Daughter | Geoff Johns Tony Daniel Carlos Ferreira Art Thibert | Teen Titans #38 | Enigma is the heroic and criminal partner of Duela Dent, the Joker's Daughter. |
| The Batman Who Laughs | Scott Snyder Greg Capullo | #1 | A version of Bruce Wayne from Earth-22 of the Dark Multiverse. This version of Batman was driven insane by Joker venom, murdered the Joker, and then the rest of the Bat-Family. Currently serves as the leader of the, and a lieutenant to Barbados. |
| Tweedledum and Tweedledee | Don Cameron Jerry Robinson Bob Kane | Detective Comics #74 | Dumphrey and Deever Tweed are a pair of cousins whose similar looks often have them mistaken for identical twins. The pair wear costumes modeled on their namesakes from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass when committing their crimes and are members of the Mad Hatter's Wonderland Gang. |
| Vandal Savage | Alfred Bester Martin Nodell | Green Lantern #10 | A caveman that was exposed to a meteorite that gave him immortality and who has manipulated history, such as being a Pharaoh in Egypt and assisting in the murder of Julius Caesar. Savage is the enemy of the Justice League, the Justice Society, the Immortal Man, the Resurrection Man, Hawkman, Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, Pandora, Superman and Batman, with occasional special interest in the Wayne family. |
The League of Assassins
First appearing in Strange Adventures #215, the League of Assassins is a team of highly trained killers that was founded by Ra's al Ghul and has often swayed from working under his organization to working independently of it. The group has been led at times by Dr. Ebeneezer Darrk, the Sensei, Lady Shiva, and Cassandra Cain.| Villain | Creator | First appearance | Fictional biography |
| Alpha | Kelley Puckett Damion Scot | Batgirl #35 | Michael Sommers is a dangerous assassin and a terrorist-for-hire. Sommers joined the League of Assassins under Lady Shiva. |
| Anya Volkova | James Tynion IV Scott Snyder Guillem March | Talon #3 | Anya Volkova is a former League of Assassins member who has allied herself with Casey Washington in a fight against organizations like the League and the Court of Owls. |
| Boone | Chuck Dixon Scott McDaniel | Nightwing Secret Files and Origins #1 | Boone harbors a long-standing enmity for Dick Grayson dating back to their youth, when the two shared a friendship that was in many ways doomed from its inception. The boy who would become known as the predatory villain known as the Shrike traveled alone throughout the Pacific Rim, gleaning an array of martial arts skills both from a variety of unsavory teachers, including several former operatives of the insidious League of Assassins. |
| Bronze Tiger | Dennis O'Neil Jim Berry Leo Duranona | Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter #1 | Ben Turner comes from an upper middle class black neighborhood in Central City. When he was only 10 years old, he saw a burglar attacking his parents, and he proceeded to kill the man with a kitchen knife. In an effort to control the rage inside him, Turner turns to the martial arts and eventually crime. He trained with the same martial arts masters as Batman and the Green Arrow. |
| Cheshire | Marv Wolfman George Pérez | New Teen Titans Annual #2 | Batman battled Cheshire when she teamed up with the KGBeast, bringing her into conflict with the Dark Knight and Arsenal. Batman battled her in Zurich, but the fight ended when Batman had Nightwing rescue Lian, after which she gave up peacefully, allowing Batman to arrest her. |
| Dark Archer | Mike Friedrich Neal Adams Dick Dillin | Justice League of America #94 | Merlyn is a highly skilled archer and mercenary. Although primarily an enemy of the Green Arrow, Merlyn has had several encounters with the Batman family as a member of the League of Assassins. |
| David Cain | Kelley Puckett Damion Scott | Batman #567 | David Cain is the father of Cassandra Cain and an enemy to both her and Batman. David Cain helped train Batman in the field of martial arts. |
| December Graystone | James Tynion IV Julius Gopez | Red Hood and the Outlaws #21 | December Graystone is a League of Assassins operative that can perform blood magic, where he cuts himself to access various powers through spilled blood, such as telekinesis and teleportation. |
| Detonator | Peter Milligan Freddie E. Williams II | Batman | Detonator is a member of the Seven Men of Death, aside from the League of Assassins. |
| Doctor Ebenezer Darrk | Dennis O'Neil Neal Adams | Detective Comics #405 | Dr. Darrk is the first known individual assigned to head the League of Assassins by Ra's al Ghul. Although many of the League's leaders over the years have been accomplished martial artists, Darrk himself did not depend on physical prowess and, as an assassin, he instead relied upon careful planning and manipulation, ambushes and death traps, as well as a variety of cleverly concealed weapons and poisons. After earning Ra's enmity, Darrk died during a plot to kidnap Talia Head. |
| Doctor Moon | Denny O'Neil Irv Novick | Batman #240 | Dr. Moon is a highly immoral scientist and neurosurgeon. His areas of expertise are body modifications, psychological conditioning, and torture. He is known for hiring his services out to many different supervillains. |
| Doctor Tzin-Tzin | John Broome Sheldon Moldoff | Detective Comics #354 | Doctor Tzin-Tzin is a Dr. Fu Manchu-inspired Asian-looking crime lord who battles Batman several times and once encounters Jonny Double and Supergirl. Tzin-Tzin is seemingly killed on an airship during a battle with Peacemaker. |
| Dragonfly | Robert Kanigher Sheldon Moldoff | Batman #181 | The Dragonfly, alongside the Silken Spider and the Tiger Moth, attacked Wayne Manor. |
| Dusan al Ghul | Peter Milligan David Lopez | Batman Annual #26 | Dusan al Ghul is the son of Ra's al Ghul and the brother of Talia al Ghul, who was rejected by his father because of the fact that Dusan was born an albino. He tried everything to earn his father's respect and eventually gave up and left. Dusan returns later as the White Ghost to use his nephew's Damian Wayne body for his father to use as a vessel. |
| Expediter | Christopher Yost Frazer Irving | Azrael: Death's Dark Knight #3 | Fadir Nasser is the top secret agent of the League and a loyal servant to Ra's al Ghul. He frequently clashed with Azrael, Batman and Robin and, on one occasion, the Gotham City Sirens. |
| Grind | Mike W. Barr Trevor von Eeden | Batman Annual #8 | Grind used to be Ra's al Ghul's bodyguard, until he was replaced by Ubu. He possessed the same temperament as his predecessor. Grind was seemingly killed in the subsequent explosion of Ra's' mountain fortress. |
| Hook | Jack Miller Neal Adams | Strange Adventures #210 | The Hook is a retired gangster known for having shot and killed Boston Brand, turning Brand into Deadman. |
| Kirigi | James Owsley Jim Aparo | Batman #431 | Kirigi is a top martial artist and a League of Assassins trainer. Kirigi taught Bruce Wayne and various members of the League of Assassins the art of ninjitsu. |
| Kitty Kumbata | Chuck Dixon Scott McDaniel | Richard Dragon #1 | Kitty Kumbata is a talented but mentally unstable martial artist. She has been a member of the League of Assassins and Lady Shiva's Circle of Six. |
| Kyle Abbot | Greg Rucka Shawn Martinbrough | Detective Comics #743 | Formerly an agent for Ra's al Ghul, Kyle Abbot is the bodyguard of Whisper A'Daire, empowered by his mistress with the same serum that gave her immortality and shapeshifting abilities. In Kyle's case, the serum turned him into an ageless werewolf, second in command of a small army of similarly empowered henchmen. |
| Lady Shiva | Dennis O'Neil Ric Estrada | Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter #5 | Lady Shiva is a deadly martial artist and the mother of Cassandra Cain. |
| Maduvu | Grant Morrison Tony S. Daniel | Batman #671 | Maduvu is a member of the Seven Men of Death. |
| Mad Dog III | Andersen Gabrych Ale Garza | Batgirl #67 | Mad Dog is the son of David Cain, who had begun thinking about what he would leave behind when he died. He wished for a "perfect child"—specifically a "perfect artisan of his craft". This led to the birth of Mad Dog. |
| Malaq | Greg Rucka Shawn Martinbroug | Detective Comics #750 | Malaq is a member and henchman of the League of Assassins. |
| Nyssa Raatko | Greg Rucka Klaus Janson | Detective Comics #783 | Nyssa Raatko is a daughter of Ra's Al Ghul. |
| Onyx | Joey Cavalieri Jerome Moore | Detective Comics #546 | Highly trained in the martial arts, Onyx first aligned herself with the League of Assassins before reforming and becoming a vigilante. She resides in Gotham City and is considered an ally of the Batman. She is a member of the Outsiders and the leader of the Fist Clan. |
| Owens | Christopher Yost Ramon Bachs | Red Robin #1 | Owens is a sniper that was partnered up with Pru and Z to assassinate Red Robin. Owens was killed by the Widower of the Council of Spiders. |
| Professor Ojo | Denny O'Neil Ric Estrada | Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter #16 | Ojo is a brilliant criminal scientist with a vendetta against atomic energy. |
| Prudence Wood | Christopher Yost Ramon Bachs | Red Robin #1 | Pru is an assassin who worked for the Demon's Head, but later defected to work with Tim Drake. |
| Razorburn | Grant Morrison Tony S. Daniel | Batman #671 | Razorburn was a member of the Seven Men of Death. As part of this team, he was summoned to Gotham City by Talia al Ghul in order to retrieve the Suit of Sorrows from the Order of Purity. |
| Rictus | James Tynion IV Julius Gopez | Red Hood and the Outlaws #21 | Rictus is a criminal that replaced his body parts with cybernetics. |
| Sensei | Neal Adams | Strange Adventures #215 | The Sensei is a top martial artist and the immortal father of Ra's al Ghul. |
| Silver Monkey | Chuck Dixon Steve Lieber | Detective Comics #685 | The Silver Monkey is a martial artist who was trained by the Cult of the Monkey Fist. As an assassin and mercenary, he has become an enemy of Batman and the Green Arrow. He was eventually gunned down and killed by the Ventriloquist. |
| Silken Spider | Robert Kanigher Sheldon Moldoff | Batman #181 | The Silken Spider is a member of the League of Assassins. |
| Shellcase | Grant Morrison Tony S. Daniel | Batman #670 | Shellcase was a member of the Seven Men of Death. As part of this team, Shellcase was summoned to Gotham City to retrieve the Suit of Sorrows from the Order of Purity. |
| Talia al Ghul | Dennis O'Neil Bob Brown Dick Giordano | Detective Comics #411 | Talia al Ghul is a daughter of Ra's al Ghul, the mother of Damian Wayne and a high-ranking member of both the League of Assassins and Leviathan. She has been known to have several on again-off again romantic relationships with Batman. |
| Targa | Judd Winick | Green Arrow and Black Canary #9 | Targa is a telekinetic who is the leader of the League of Assassins' metahuman faction. He thinks that he is leading a group of the League of Assassins. They took orders from whom they thought was Ra's al Ghul to kidnap Connor Hawke. |
| Tiger Moth | Robert Kanigher Sheldon Moldoff | Batman #181 | The Tiger Moth's costume disorients opponents, making them incapable of hitting her. |
| Tigris | Andersen Gabrych Alé Garza | Batgirl #68 | Tigris is a member of the League of Assassins under Nyssa Raatko's leadership and a devout disciple of Cassandra Cain. She is recognized by her niqab. |
| Ubu | Dennis O'Neil Neal Adams | Batman #232 | Ubu is Ra's Al Ghul's bodyguard. |
| Vial | Christopher Yost Ramon Bachs | Red Robin #3 | Vial is a member of the League of Assassins killed by Funnel, a member of their rival the Council of Spiders. |
| Whisper A'Daire | Greg Rucka Shawn Martinbrough | Detective Comics #743 | Formerly an agent for Ra's al Ghul, Ra's gave Whisper a serum that grants her immortality and the ability to shapeshift. |
Morrison-era supervillains (2007–2011)
These are supervillains that were introduced under writer Grant Morrison.| Villain | Creator | First appearance | Fictional biography |
| The Flamingo | Grant Morrison Frank Quitely | Batman #666 | Nicknamed "the eater of faces" for his cannibalistic tendencies, Eduardo Flamingo is a psychotic hitman who works for the mob. |
| The Jackanapes | Grant Morrison Andy Kubert | Batman #666 | The Jackanapes is a gorilla in a clown costume that wields a machete and a sub-machine gun. |
| Max Roboto | Grant Morrison Andy Kubert | Batman #666 | Max Roberto is a cyborg with a partially cybernetic face who operates in a futuristic timeline in which Damian Wayne is Batman. |
| Phosphorus Rex | Grant Morrison Andy Kubert | Batman #666 | Phosphorus Rex is a member of the Circus of Strange who is constantly on fire. His metahuman abilities make him immune to the harmful effects of fire. |
| Professor Pyg | Grant Morrison Andy Kubert | Batman #666 | Donning a pig mask, Lazlo Valentin is a mad scientist known for kidnapping people and brutally transforming them into minions that he calls "Dollotrons". Valentin sometimes experiments with transforming human beings into humanoid animals. |
| The Weasel | Grant Morrison Andy Kubert | Batman #666 | The Weasel is a man with all canine teeth. He appears as an enemy of Damian Wayne in the future. |
| The Absence | Paul Cornell Scott McDaniel | Batman and Robin #18 | A former girlfriend of Bruce Wayne, Una Nemo received a bullet in her head and survived. Now, she is stalking and killing Bruce Wayne's former mistresses. |
| Big Top | Grant Morrison Frank Quitely | Batman and Robin #2 | Big Top is a morbidly obese bearded man in a tutu. He is part of the Circus of Strange. |
| Doctor Dedalus | Grant Morrison Yanick Paquette | Batman Incorporated #3 | Otto Netz is a mad scientist and the father of Kathy Kane, the original Batwoman. Years ago, Netz was defeated by the spy syndicate Spyral and imprisoned; suffering from Alzheimer's disease, he was locked away, but secretly escaped and brainwashed his jailer to take his place. Netz was recruited by Leviathan to build a doomsday device, but died at the hands of Damian Wayne in order to save Batman and Nightwing. |
| The Heretic | Grant Morrison David Finch | Batman and Robin #12 | The mysterious Heretic is a clone of Damian Wayne, artificially aged and genetically enhanced by Talia al Ghul. He is Leviathan's most fearsome soldier, having killed both Knight and his "brother", Damian. |
| The Id | David Hine Agustin Padilla | Batman Annual #28 | The Id is a French supervillain who could awaken hidden desires in any human being with a mere touch. Sister Crystal turned his head into glass, with his brain always visible. |
| Jezebel Jet | Grant Morrison Andy Kubert | Batman #656 | President of a small African nation, Jezebel Jet was a successful model and philanthropist who became romantically involved with Bruce Wayne. However, she was also a high-ranking member of the Black Glove and agreed to seduce Wayne in exchange for the Black Glove murdering her adopted father and installing her as president. Her attempt to drive Batman insane failed due to Batman realizing she was a spy; she was ultimately murdered and decapitated by Man-Bat Commandos sent by Talia al Ghul. |
| King Kraken | Grant Morrison Tony S. Daniel | Batman #676 | King Kraken is an aquatic criminal from Sweden and a deep sea diver known to go up against Batman and Wingman. |
| Mister Toad | Grant Morrison Frank Quitely | Batman and Robin #1 | Mister Toad is a mutated frog-man. He is part of the Circus of Strange. |
| The Ray Man | David Hine Greg Tocchini Andrei Bressan | Batman and Robin #26 | The Ray Man is a French supervillain who can create visual illusions out of a hole in his head. While creating a mass illusion, the Ray Man pretends to be a reality-warping god-like superbeing named Paradox. |
| Siam | David Hine Greg Tocchini Andrei Bressan | Batman and Robin #26 | Siam is a name used by conjoined triplets with a specialized fighting style. They are members of the Circus of Strange. |
| Sister Crystal | David Hine Greg Tocchini Andrei Bressan | Batman and Robin #26 | Sister Crystal is a French supervillainess who has the ability to turn everything she touches into glass. |
| The Skin Talker | David Hine Greg Tocchini Andrei Bressan | Batman and Robin #26 | The Skin Talker has a unique skin disease that make words appear on his body. He is fully in control of this ability, and the words on his skin have hidden hypnotic effects. |
| The Son of Man | David Hine Greg Tocchini Andrei Bressan | Batman and Robin #26 | Otherwise known as the Man Who Laughs, the Son of Man is a French supervillain and an enemy of Nightrunner. As an infant, Norman S. Rotrig was mutilated by his insane father into becoming what his father believed was a living masterpiece of art. The Son of Man now has a permanent Glasgow smile on his face and retaliated against his father by dissecting him and keeping him alive in front a mirror, while still alive but in pieces. Determined to turn Paris, France into a "work of art", the Son of Man is considered to be a French counterpart of the Joker. |
| The Son of Pyg | Grant Morrison Cameron Stewart | Batman Incorporated #4 | Janosz Valentin is the son of the infamous Professor Pyg. Janosz wears a similar pig mask to his father, but it is heavily damaged and has red eyes. He is a masochist who claims that he can teach others to feel no pain. |
| The Swagman | Grant Morrison Tony Daniel | Batman #676 | The Swagman is an armored supervillain who targets members of the Batman family. |
| The White Knight | Peter Tomasi Patrick Gleason | Batman and Robin #21 | A mysterious being of light who seeks to battle the darkness of Gotham City, the White Knight targeted the relatives of Arkham Asylum's inmates in order to save their souls by dressing them as angels and forcing them to commit suicide. As a very resourceful and inventive serial killer, the White Knight's ultimate goal is to kill Arkham's inmates. |
''The New 52'' and beyond
In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. Since this new timeline began, these supervillains have been introduced. These are characters that have not been around long enough to apply to any other category.| Villain | Creator | First appearance | Fictional biography |
| Bentley | Tony Daniel | Detective Comics #2 | A member of the Dollmaker's family, Bentley is a being of brute strength. |
| Dollhouse | Tony Daniel | Detective Comics #2 | Matilda Mathis is the Dollmaker's daughter who initially dressed as a nurse with a ceramic mask stitched into her face as the Dollmaker's right-hand henchman. She later took up her father's cause and became Dollhouse, kidnapping children and harvesting their organs for the organ trade. She then turns what is left of their bodies into human dolls that she uses to decorate her garden. |
| Jack-in-the-Box | Tony Daniel | Detective Comics #2 | Jack is a member of the Dollmaker's family who has a mutilated, surgically enhanced body with arms seemingly made of rubber. |
| Mister Toxic | Tony Daniel | Detective Comics #2 | Mister Toxic began as a low-level criminal known as "the Gas Man", one of several amateur supervillains that the Penguin called upon in order to offer them "protection" for their money. The Gas Man eventually became Mister Toxic and found himself more than a match for Batman. After Mister Toxic robbed several nuclear plants, Batman discovered that he was the dying clone of one of Bruce Wayne's fellow businessmen. Batman was able to defeat Mister Toxic, who has not been seen since. |
| Olivia Carr | Tony Daniel | Detective Comics #2 | Olivia Carr is a girl that was kidnapped and brainwashed into becoming a member of the Dollmaker Family. |
| Orifice | Tony Daniel | Detective Comics #2 | Orifice is a member of the Dollmaker Family who has various foreign limbs and tissue stitched to his body. |
| Sampson | Tony Daniel | Detective Comics #2 | A member of the Dollmaker Family, Sampson is a small man made to look like a toy monkey. |
| Wesley Mathis | Tony Daniel | Detective Comics #2 | A serial killer and former enemy of Commissioner Gordon who would take his son, Barton Mathis, on "hunting trips" in which he kidnapped and cannibalized human beings. He was eventually killed in a struggle with Gordon, leading to his son's personal vendetta against Gordon. |
| The Brute | James Tynion IV Mikel Janin | Detective Comics #19 | The Brute is a prisoner of Santa Prisca who has gone through extensive new experimentations with Venom. |
| Malicia | James Tynion IV Mikel Janin | Detective Comics #19 | Malicia is an ally of Bane who has gone through Venom experiments at Santa Prisca. |
| The Professor | James Tynion IV Mikel Janin | Detective Comics #19 | The Professor is a scientist who works at Santa Prisca that specializes in Venom experiments for Bane. |
| The Wolf-Spider | James Tynion IV Mikel Janin | Detective Comics #19 | The Wolf-Spider is a recruit of Bane who has been enhanced with the super drug Venom. |
| Doctor Falsario | Tim Seeley Scott Snyder James Tynion IV Ray Fawkes John Layman Andy Clarke | Batman Eternal #18 | Doctor Falsario is a supervillain who has hypnotic powers. |
| The Dollmaker | Tony Daniel | Detective Comics #1 | The leader of his "Family", Barton Mathis is a mad doctor who specializes in organ transplantation. He is responsible for the creation of twisted surgical abominations made of several different limbs and organs stitched into one being. He runs an organ trade business and is responsible for cutting the Joker's face off. Though the Dollmaker sees the Toyman as a father figure, he is not to be confused with the Toyman's biological son, Anton Schott, who also used the Dollmaker alias. |
| Eli Strange | Tony Daniel | Detective Comics #5 | Eli Strange is the criminal son of Hugo Strange. Eli Strange collaborated with the Catwoman during some of his criminal activities. |
| Emperor Blackgate | John Layman Jason Fabok | Detective Comics #13 | Ignatius Ogilvy was the right-hand man of the Penguin, who had aspirations of taking over the Penguin's criminal empire as his operative "Emperor Penguin". Ogilvy briefly managed to do so, until he was incapacitated by Batman and was arrested. Within Blackgate Penitentiary, Ogilvy gained control of the prison's organized criminal activity and took on the name "Emperor Blackgate". |
| Fishnet | Ann Nocenti Rafa Sandoval | Catwoman #17 | Otto Baxter Kruft, a.k.a. "Fishnet", is a henchman for the Penguin, recognizable for wearing a fishnet stocking over his face. |
| Volt | Ann Nocenti Rafa Sandoval | Catwoman #17 | Volt is the Penguin's resident technological genius and creator of many of his weapons. An accident gave Volt electrical powers. |
| Hypnotic | Tony Daniel | Detective Comics #6 | Hypnotic is an upstart criminal who works under the Penguin's guidance. He uses radio waves to control his victims' minds. |
| The Imperceptible Man | Tony Daniel | Detective Comics #6 | The Imperceptible Man is a seemingly invisible criminal who came to Gotham in an alliance with the Penguin. |
| Jill Hampton | Tony Daniel | Detective Comics #6 | Jill Hampton works for the Penguin and is Charlotte Rivers' sister. |
| Mister Combustible | Tony Daniel | Detective Comics #6 | Mister Combustible is an upstart criminal who works under the Penguin's guidance. |
| Snakeskin | Tony Daniel | Detective Comics #6 | Snakeskin is a shapeshifter and Jill Hampton's boyfriend. |
| Grotesque | Gail Simone Ardian Syaf Alitha Martinez | Batgirl #7 | Grotesque is a masked man identified as 'snobbish' because of his very eccentric tastes. |
| Knightfall | Gail Simone Alitha Martinez | Batgirl #10 | Charise Carnes was a prisoner at Arkham Asylum when a massive breakout took place in which she watched the other inmates torture and kill others. After getting out of the asylum, Carnes became a vigilante called Knightfall who torments and murders criminals, eventually becoming an enemy of Batgirl. |
| The Merrymaker | John Layman Jason Fabok | Detective Comics #17 | The Merrymaker is a supervillain who leads a gang of criminals called the League of Smiles, who are obsessed with the Joker. |
| Mister Bloom | Scott Snyder Greg Capullo | Batman #43 | Real name unknown, Mister Bloom stole high-tech seeds that allowed him to manipulate his own body, seeing himself as a gardener come to prune the garden of Gotham as a failed experiment. |
| Mister Bygone | Scott Snyder James Tynion IV Ray Fawkes Dustin Nguyen Trevor McCarthy | Batman Eternal #6 | Mister Bygone is a mysterious man who is a product of the insanity that infests Arkham Asylum. |
| Mister Mosaic | Tony Daniel | Detective Comics #5 | Mister Mosaic is a deformed rich underboss of the Penguin. |
| Mother | James Tynion IV Scott Snyder Tony Daniel | Batman and Robin Eternal #1 | The sole survivor of a village that was destroyed in the crossfire of a brutal war, 'Mother' sees herself as making children stronger by forcing them to endure tragedy, believing that Batman shares her views in his efforts to "mold" the Robins. |
| Nobody | Peter Tomasi Patrick Gleason | Batman and Robin #1 | Morgan Ducard has almost telekinetic powers seemingly based on sound waves. Ducard is the son of Henri Ducard, the detective who once trained Bruce Wayne. He seeks to destroy Batman Incorporated and believes that killing criminals could save more lives than simply putting them in prison and allowing them to live. |
| The Talon | Scott Snyder Greg Capullo | Batman #2 | William Cobb is an agent of the Court of Owls, a near-mythical organisation in Gotham City. William Cobb is the great-grandfather of Dick Grayson. |
| The Trickster | Greg Pak Jae Lee | Batman/Superman #1 | Kaiyo is a mischievous New God from Apokolips who can pass between worlds at will. She is responsible for the first meeting between Batman and Superman. |
| The White Rabbit | David Finch Paul Jenkins | #1 | Jaina Hudson is the mastermind behind a toxin known to obliterate all fear from one's mind. Due to her involvement with Bane and the Scarecrow, she once managed to defeat Batman. |
| Colonel Blimp | Tom King Ivan Reis | Batman #6 | Real name unknown, Colonel Blimp is a man in a purple and gold uniform similar to that of a German zeppelin pilot. He has twice stolen a submarine, using a blimp he flies armed with magnetic tentacles. He holds the submarine for ransom, announcing to the city that he will not return the submarine until a certain amount of money is paid. The second time, he is stopped by Gotham Girl. |
| The Haunter | Scott Bryan Wilson Bilquis Evely | Batman Annual #1 | Real name unknown, the Haunter is a malnourished woman with orange hair. She has the ability to kill anyone whose DNA she comes in contact with, causing them to dissipate into black smoke. She is hinted to be already known to Batman and to be on good terms with the rest of Batman's villains in Arkham. She escapes from Arkham and assists the Scarecrow in a plan to release fear gas in Gotham on Christmas Eve, but both are paralyzed with the gas and recaptured by Batman. |
| The Stag | Steve Orlando Riley Rossmo | Batman Annual #1 | The Stag is a mysterious woman adorned in black and yellow, a black horned headdress and a white mask. Not much is known about her currently. She is first seen invading the apartment of Barry O'Neill and killing him with a stab to the forehead. |
| Blackbird | Julie Benson Shawna Benson Roge Antonio | Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #8 | The Blackbird is a woman with the metahuman power to drain those of others. Feeling that metahumans were oppressed, she planned to take the powers of many for herself and use them to create a revolution. She managed to lure in several students under the guise of a training school, forming an association with Roulette. Her students included Gemini and an undercover Black Canary. |
''Batman Beyond'' villains
Foes of lesser renown
These adversaries are categorized by their obscurity and for being less notable than other characters in this article.| Villain | First appearance | Fictional biography |
| Abattoir | Detective Comics #625 | A schizophrenic, superstitious, and cannibalistic serial killer who was convinced that his family was evil, Arnold Etchison has thanatophobia and, due to living in a world where paranormal activities are common occurrences related to metahumans, extraterrestrials, and the supernatural, leads him into an insane delusion that he absorbs his victims' life force when he kills them therefore prolongs his lifespan as an immortal. Abattoir even wears a makeshift cape to imitate costumed beings such as Superman and Batman. He was apprehended and incarcerated in Arkham Asylum, from which he escaped several times, always being returned by Batman. Eventually he was tracked down by Batman's substitute Jean Paul Valley, who chased him into a refinery and knocked him into a vat of molten metal. When Batman journeyed to Hell with Etrigan the Demon, he briefly encountered Abattoir, who believes that he should not have died and thus remains deluded that he is an immortal, blaming Batman for his death. Batman did not feel guilt over Abattoir's plight, fully aware that the serial killer condemned himself to Hell for the atrocities he had committed long before encountering Jean Paul Valley. He later returned as a ghost, to torment the original Batman using Valley's Batman armor, but Batman proved much less susceptible to psychological assault than his substitute. Batman tricked Abattoir's ghost into abandoning the armor and his mission. Abattoir's corpse is reanimated by a black power ring and recruited to the Black Lantern Corps. |
| Actuary | Detective Comics #683 | The Actuary is a mathematical genius who applies formulae to aid the Penguin in committing crimes. |
| Agent Orange | Batman and the Outsiders #3 | Claiming to be a Vietnam War veteran, Agent Orange is a supervillain who blames the United States government for his injuries. He attacks the innocent citizens of Gotham City with the help of his followers. |
| Amba Kadiri | Batman #274 | An Indian thief and leader of the Afro-Asian block of Underworld Olympians, Amba Kadiri crossed paths with Batman, only to be captured so that her team may go on in the competition. She is an accomplished thief and martial artist who bears steel-clawed fingertips. |
| Amygdala | ' #3 | Aaron Helzinger is a powerful behemoth with a childlike temper. He is quick to anger and turns into a murdering monster after doctors experiment on his brain. He has been stopped by Batman in the past by applying a severe blow to the back of the neck. |
| Answer | Batman Villains Secret Files and Origins #1 | Mike Patten is an engineer in Gotham City that believed a civilization 15,000 years ago was wiped out due to a massive earthquake. During the events of ', his wife and daughter perished, leading Mike to believe the end of humanity was nigh. He became the Answer to prove his theory to society through robbery and murder. |
| Architect | ' #1 | Zachary Gate is the descendant of Nicholas Anders, one of the architect brothers who constructed Gotham City's bridges. Upon his stepbrother's death, Nicholas attempted to avenge him by killing Gotham's founding fathers: the Waynes, Cobblepots, and Elliots, on whom he blamed his death. He was then jailed for the murder of Robert Kane and declared that the forefathers' descendants would suffer for their sins. Zachary comes across this knowledge and the name of the Architect from his ancestor's journals and decided to avenge him, setting his goals on eliminating the forefathers' descendants. |
| Atomic-Man | Detective Comics #280 | Paul Strobe is a scientist who can shoot beams from his eyes that can transmute matter into another form and focuses them through the special lenses of his goggles. |
| Bad Samaritan | Outsiders #3 | The Bad Samaritan is a highly trained agent of the USSR that became an independent contractor in espionage, terrorism, and assassination working for virtually all major governments. |
| Bag O'Bones | Batman #195 | Radioactivity transforms Ned Creegan into a skeletal-looking "living x-ray photo" who calls himself Bag O'Bones and battles Batman and Robin. Creegan later returns as the Cyclotronic Man fighting Black Lightning and Superman. Still later, he adopts the name One Man Meltdown and battles the Outsiders. After getting the medical treatment he needs, Creegan goes back to prison, content to do his time in jail and then reform. |
| Benedict Asp | Batman #486 | Benedict Asp is the brother of Shondra Kinsolving, the trained physiotherapist who meets Bruce Wayne when he is dealing with exhaustion and helps to look after him after he is injured by Bane. He kidnaps her and turns her abilities to evil uses. Asp reveals Shondra's healing powers and, along with his own psychic abilities, uses her to telekinetically kill an entire village. Bruce eventually defeats Benedict, but the events traumatize Shondra. |
| Baffler | Robin #1 | Titus Samuel Czonka is an unintelligent brute that leaves riddles for Batman to solve similar to the Riddler and the Cluemaster. |
| Billy Numerous | Catwoman #78 | Billy Numerous has the ability to make copies of himself, which he uses for criminal activity. He has taken on Slam Bradley and the Catwoman. |
| Birthday Boy | ' | In the Earth One re-imagining of Batman's origin, Ray Salinger is a serial killer who operated at the beginning of Batman's career. Nicknamed "the Birthday Boy", Salinger kidnaps and murders young women who resemble his first victim. His modus operandi is to give the person that he is about to kill a birthday cake with his first victim's name on it and tells them to "make a wish". |
| Bizarro-Batman | World's Finest Comics #156 | Not to be confused with Batzarro, Bizarro-Batman is a Bizarro version of Batman who appeared as a member of a Bizarro version of the Justice League of America. Bizarro-Batman originates from the Bizarro World. |
| Bizarro-Batman | Superman/Batman #20 | Batzarro is a Bizarro version of Batman whose origins remain unknown. |
| Black Spider | Detective Comics #463 | The first Black Spider is Eric Needham, a hunter of the drug dealers who ruined his life. |
| Black Spider | Batman #518 | The second Black Spider is Johnny LaMonica. He is killed by Crispus Allen during a gang shooting. |
| Black Spider | Birds of Prey #87 | A third Black Spider appears named Derek Coe who battles the Birds of Prey. |
| Black and White Bandit | Batman Gotham Knights #12 | Roscoe Chiara was an artist who was hired to create a portrait with experimental paint. After doing so, he completely lost the ability to see color. Chiara began robbing public locations of valuable materials. |
| Blockbuster | Detective Comics #345 | Mark Desmond is a former chemist who experiments on himself and subsequently becomes a mindless brute who possesses super-strength. |
| Blockbuster | Starman #9 | Roland Desmond became the second Blockbuster after a severe illness forced him to be treated with experimental steroids. Like his brother Mark, Roland became a child-minded super-strong monster. He ran wild in the Southwest, but Batman and Starman brought his rampage to an end. |
| Blue Bat | Batman #127 | In an alternate universe, the Blue Bat was a criminal who wore the Batman costume. |
| Bouncer | Detective Comics #347 | The Bouncer is a metallurgist who discovers "an alloy of rubber, steel, and chrome" called "elastalloy", which he uses to create a suit that allows him to bounce "tremendous distances or from great heights—yet not be harmed at all!" The Bouncer fights Batman twice, once alone and once as a minion of the Monarch of Menace. |
| Bonaventure Strake | Batman #514 | Bonaventure Strake is a villain that is incarcerated at Blackgate Penitentiary for murder. |
| "Brains" Beldon | Detective Comics #301 | Brains is a criminal genius who pulls off a $20,000,000 heist in Gotham City before being defeated by Batman. He is the father of the Teen Titans' foe the Disruptor. |
| Brand | Batman #137 | The Brand is a cowboy-themed supervillain who uses cattle brands as weapons and as clues for future crimes. |
| Bruno | The Dark Knight Returns | In the Dark Knight Universe, Bruno is a Neo-Nazi who is a chief henchwoman of the Joker and has ties to the Mutant Gang. |
| Brutale | Nightwing #22 | Guillermo Barrera was a top-level interrogator/torturer for the secret police in the Latin American country Hasaragua, until a revolution forced him to flee. He began a new career as a mercenary/assassin and eventually began working for Blockbuster in Blüdhaven, battling Nightwing on several occasions. Brutale is an expert with all forms of knives and blades, being able to both fight superbly and inflict horrible pain on his victims. |
| Buzz Galvan | Detective Comics #644 | Elmo "Buzz" Galvan has the ability to control electricity. He requires an electrical generator to provide him with power. He can then use the electricity to fire powerful blasts, generate force fields and electro-statically crawl up walls. Galvan was a robber who, along with three others, stole 2 million pounds and in the process murdered four people. The gang were about to make their getaway to a Caribbean island when they were captured by Batman. Galvan's gang blamed him for the murders and he took the fall and was sentenced to die in the electric chair. On his execution date, Galvan was enraged to see the witnesses, who he perceived had come to laugh at his death. The execution was unsuccessful, damaging his nervous system and leaving him partially paralyzed. The laws of the state decreed that he could not be executed again. Unwilling to be confined to a charity ward for the rest of his life, Galvan crawled from his bed and bit into a power line in an attempt to kill himself. The electricity restored his ability to move and gave him control over electricity. Galvan set out to avenge himself against those he believed had mocked him. |
| Captain Stingaree | Detective Comics #460 | Karl Courtney is a criminal who commits crimes using a pirate motif. |
| Cavalier | Detective Comics #81 | Mortimer Drake is an expert swordsman who speaks in Shakespearean English and dresses in a French musketeer costume. Initially depicted as craving adventure and riches, the rogue was repeatedly bested by Batman and Robin. The Cavalier eventually lost his mind, and can sometimes be seen as an inmate or escapee from Arkham Asylum. |
| Cavalier | ' #32 | The second Cavalier is Hudson Pyle, a sword-wielding vigilante. |
| Charlatan | Detective Comics #777 | Paul Sloan is a successful actor who is persuaded to impersonate Two-Face by a number of Gotham's villains when Two-Face refused to join their scheme after Two-Face's coin landed with the unscarred side up. Paul ends up encountering Batman briefly in the process. He is later tortured and disfigured by Two-Face and experimented upon by the Scarecrow. Paul returned years later, attacking the various villains who had recruited him, all in an attempt to get to Batman. He is currently incarcerated at Arkham Asylum. |
| Chancer | ' #7 | The Chancer is a bank robber of unknown identity who is armed simply with a baton. |
| Clock II | Star-Spangled Comics #70 | In Pre-Crisis continuity, the second character to use the moniker of the Clock is a clock-themed criminal who is primarily an enemy of Robin. Not to be confused with the Clock King II. |
| Colonel Sulphur | Batman #241 | Colonial Sulphur is a self-styled warrior with a vast knowledge of psychological terror who fights Batman four times in the 1970s and 1980s. Sulphur also encounters Superman and Supergirl and puts together an Army of Crime. |
| Composite Superman | World's Finest Comics #142 | An out-of-work scuba diver, Joseph Meach gained the combined powers of the Legion of Super-Heroes after being struck by the energy discharge of their statues while he slept. He then desired to defeat Superman and Batman. Later the effect and his memory faded, but his powers were restored by an alien whose father had been imprisoned by Batman and Robin. Joe sacrificed himself to save the superheroes. |
| Condiment King | ' #8 | Mitchell Mayo is a villain who makes use of various condiments, sometimes capable of causing anaphylactic shock. He is a comedy relief villain that is easily defeated by Robin and Batgirl. |
| Corrosive Man | Detective Comics #587 | A convicted murderer, Derek Mitchell escapes from jail seeking vengeance on Mortimer Kadaver, but is involved in an unfortunate accident on the way that turns him into a literally corrosive man, his entire skin burning with chemical fire which can eat through walls and floors or burn human flesh. His encounter with Kadaver leaves the latter with a handprint burned onto his forehead and leaves Mitchell inert, although he surfaces at least twice more. |
| Cornelius Stirk | Detective Comics #592 | Cornelius Stirk is an Arkham Asylum inmate who possesses latent psychic abilities, specifically the ability to induce fear and hallucinations in others. A delusional psychotic, Stirk believes that he will die unless he regularly consumes human hearts. |
| Crazy Quilt | Boy Commandos #15 | Paul Dekker is an ex-painter who leads a double life as a master thief and is blinded by a gunshot wound during a botched robbery. While in prison, he volunteers for an experimental procedure that would restore his vision. There is a side effect, however: even though he can see, he can only see in blinding, disorienting colors. This drives him insane, and he adopts the identity of Crazy Quilt. |
| Crazy Quilt | Villains United #2 | Apparently, the new Secret Society of Super Villains, led by Alexander Luthor Jr., has in its roster a new version of Crazy Quilt; a female with the characteristic costume and vision-helmet of the previous villain. Only glimpsed in the background, she has yet to resurface. |
| Crime Doctor | Detective Comics #77 | Matthew Thorne was a reputable surgeon for criminals, but he would stop his crimes to minister to the sick or injured. He later appears under a new name, Bradford Thorne. He is an expert in torture. |
| Crimesmith | Batman #443 | Doctor Ryan Smith is a brilliant scientist and media personality. He gives detailed plans for robberies to gangs of crooks with the understanding that they would give him a large percentage of the loot. |
| Crimson Knight | Detective Comics #271 | The Crimson Knight, whose real name is Dick Lyons, is a mysterious, metal-clad crime fighter who appears in Gotham City as an apparent aide to Batman and Robin. The Caped Crusaders suspect the new arrival may have illegal motives. |
| Cryonic Man | Batman and the Outsiders #6 | Philip was a lab assistant for professor Niles Raymond who developed a cryogenic chamber. Fearful of the threat of nuclear war, Raymond froze himself, Philip, and their wives in 1947 in hopes of surviving any oncoming conflict. Decades later, Philip was chosen to be awakened to determine if the world had become a safe place again. However, Philip's wife was inflicted with a debilitating disease and he subjected themselves to the freeze in hopes of waking up in a time with the medical advances to save her life. Becoming the Cryonic Man, Philip sought organs to replace those of his wife which were failing, bringing him into conflict with Batman and the Outsiders. |
| Cyber C.A.T. | Catwoman #42 | Christina Chiles is a scientist who designed a state of the art robotic suit operated by her brainwaves, bristling with weapons like lasers and rockets. When the Catwoman broke into the lab to steal a microchip, Christina dons the suit herself to stop her as a trial run. After they clash several times, Chiles gets obsessed with hunting down and destroying the Catwoman to prove her superiority—a side effect of the suit's mind-link. Eventually, the Catwoman defeats her after building a robotic suit for herself. |
| Cypher | Detective Comics #657 | Avery Twombey is a corporate spy and mercenary with hypnotic abilities, though his actual past is unknown. When the government hired three separate companies, including Wayne Enterprises, to start working on different pieces of a secret military project, Cypher was hired to assassinate the three CEOs of the companies. After successfully killing two of the CEOs, he went after Wayne Enterprises' CEO Lucius Fox. As he was about to force Lucius Fox to jump off a bridge via hypnotic suggestion, he was taken down by Robin as Fox was saved by Batman and Azrael. Cypher was sent to Blackgate Penitentiary. At Blackgate, Cypher formulated an escape plan with other inmates including the Cluemaster, the Electrocutioner, and the Baffler. After a failed attempt to use his abilities on the other inmates, who evaded his hypnotism with earplugs, Cypher was shot and killed by the Cluemaster. |
| Dagger | Batman #343 | David Rennington is the owner of a blade manufacturing company called Rennington Steel. When facing hard times, Rennington becomes the Dagger, running an old-fashioned protection racket until being apprehended by Batman. He is later recruited by Ra's al Ghul. |
| Deacon Blackfire | ' #1 | Deacon Blackfire is a religious fanatic who forms an army in the sewers beneath Gotham, largely composed of the homeless. Blackfire begins a violent war on crime, which escalates into him taking over the entire city, isolating it from the rest of the country. |
| Dealer | Batman #872 | Primarily an enemy to Dick Grayson, the Dealer is an auctioneer who sells to the wealthy memorabilia and weapons used or that have formally belonged to reputable supervillains. |
| Doctor Aesop | Detective Comics #846 | Doctor Aesop is a criminal who commits crimes based on Aesop's Fables. He is an old man who carries a cane, which he wields as a deadly weapon. He keeps a menagerie of dangerous animals, which represent some of the fables he seems to cherish. Doctor Aesop was seemingly killed, but recovered from his wounds and later resurfaced in Gotham City Sirens #9. |
| Doctor Death | Detective Comics #29 | Doctor Karl Hellfern is a mad scientist who made two back-to-back appearances in the early days of Batman's career and is considered Batman's first supervillain. Doctor Death developed lethal chemical gases and threatened wealthy citizens, demanding money and tribute to him in exchange for their safety. Hellfern was disfigured in an explosion. |
| Doctor Double X | Detective Comics #261 | Doctor Simon Ecks discovers that human auras could be enhanced to function outside of the body. When Ecks creates an energy-duplicate of himself, the introverted scientist's unstable mind becomes dominated by the doppelganger, who calls himself Doctor Double X. |
| Doctor Fang | Detective Comics #536 | Doctor Fang is a criminal mastermind who was killed by Night-Slayer. |
| Doctor Moon | Batman #240 | Doctor Moon is an immoral scientist and neurosurgeon whose areas of expertise are body modifications, psychological conditioning and torture. |
| Doctor No-Face | Detective Comics #319 | Bart Magan tried to use a device that would erase a facial scar, but ended up erasing his face. |
| Doctor Phosphorus | Detective Comics #469 | Alexander James Sartorius is a mad criminal with radioactive powers resulting from the meltdown of a nuclear power plant. |
| Doctor Zodiac | World's Finest Comics #160 | Theodore B. Carrigan is a carnival mystic who turns to crime, basing his robberies on horoscopes. In his first outing, he is apprehended by Batman, Robin, and Superman. Later, he steals a dozen coins from Atlantis, each bearing a Zodiac symbol, which bestow him with various powers. Once again, Batman and Superman thwart his plans. Still later, he allies himself with Madame Zodiac to obtain a different set of Zodiac coins, but the two of them are defeated by Batman, Superman, and Zatanna. |
| Dodge | Robin #160 | Michael Lasky was just a kid who wanted to be a hero. He ran into Robin a few times and tried become Robin's partner, but Robin refused since he just got in the way and told him to go home. One night as Robin was trying to stop some kidnappers, Dodge interfered and his teleportation belt got damaged. Dodge was left in a coma after the battle and Robin took him to a hospital. Robin, feeling responsible for Dodge's condition, visited regularly until one day he disappeared. In the future, Dodge would return, but not as his former self; his skin had been turned to a shimmering red and he was furious with Robin. He had fallen into a life of crime, selling a dangerous drug that turned normal people into metahuman murderers. His criminal enterprise was built upon the hope that he would eventually meet Robin again and kill him. During a battle with Robin, Zatara, and Rose Wilson, his body inexplicably vanished and he is presumed dead. |
| Doodlebug | ' #1 | Daedalus Boch is an artist who believes he receives visions of inspiration and then compulsively recreates them on whatever canvas they indicate, including people. |
| Dummy | Batman #134 | Danny the Dummy, a pint-sized ventriloquist in a top hat and suit, has a hit act in which he plays the dummy to a normal sized "ventriloquist", Matt, who is revealed as the real dummy at the end of each show. The fact that people invariably refer to Danny as "the Dummy" infuriates him, and inspires him to use dummies for crime in order to make dummies out of the law. |
| Egghead | ' #3 | Edgar Heed believes himself to be "the world's smartest criminal", and his crimes usually have an egg motif to them, as well as including egg puns in his speech where appropriate. The character is an inmate of Arkham Asylum and a patient of Jeremiah Arkham. |
| Eivol Ekdal | Detective Comics #346 | Eivol Ekdal is a bald, slightly hunchbacked criminal scientist who is described as a "master craftsman, builder of escape gadgets and tantalizing traps for the criminal underground of America." He encounters Batman twice, before meeting his death at the hands of a couple of his criminal "customers". |
| Elemental Man | Detective Comics #294 | John Dolan was exposed to a leak from an experiment the professor he assisted was working on, leaving him randomly turning into different elements. Designing a belt to control these transformations, he took to a life of crime as the Elemental Man before Batman was able to restore him. Strike Force Kobra had a member fashioned after Dolan named the Elemental Woman. |
| Executioner | Detective Comics #191 | Willy Hooker is a vigilante who murders wanted criminals for the reward money. |
| Eraser | Batman #188 | Leonard Fiasco is a professional at covering the tracks of other crimes. For a 20 percent cut, the Eraser will "erase" the evidence of another crime. |
| Facade | Detective Comics #821 | Erik Hanson is a former employee at a trendy Gotham City nightclub for the city's popular socialites. He organizes a gang to replace them as a ploy to enter Gotham's elite. |
| False-Face | Batman #113 | False-Face is a criminal make-up artist and master of disguise who uses his skill to impersonate wealthy people. |
| Firebug | Batman #318 | An African-American former soldier and demolitions expert, Joseph Rigger returned to find his family dead due to substandard housing in three separate buildings. As the Firebug, Rigger seeks revenge on the buildings themselves, destroying them regardless of how many innocents die. He later turns to more straightforward crime. His weapons of choice are explosive bombs. |
| Firebug | Gotham Central #3 | Harlan Combs is wanted in the murder of his daughter. Combs had purchased the Firebug costume and armor from Rigger. He is injured fleeing the police and quickly arrested. |
| Firebug | Deadshot: Urban Renewal #1 | An unnamed character won the Firebug costume from an Internet auction. After taking on the Firebug name, he enters the supervillain business. |
| Famine | 52 #26 | Famine is one of the Horsemen of Apokolips who once posed as Sobek, friend to the Black Marvel family. |
| Film Freak | Batman #395 | Burt Weston is a wannabe actor who dreams of getting a big break by playing quirky villains. When each of his plans fails, he fakes his death similar to the movie The Sting. He is later killed by Bane. |
| Film Freak | Catwoman #54 | The second Film Freak answers to the surname of "Edison". |
| Fright | Batman #627 | Linda Friitawa is an albino geneticist who was stripped of her medical license for her unauthorized, gruesome experiments on human beings. She assisted the Scarecrow with his experiments; however, oblivious to the Scarecrow, she was secretly hired by the Penguin to corrupt the Scarecrow's toxins and infect the Scarecrow with them, causing him to transform into a creature dubbed "the Scarebeast". In contrast to her deeds and the Penguin, Friitawa always treated the Scarecrow with kindness. |
| Elmo Galvan | Detective Comics #644 | Elmo Galvan is a murderer, who survived his execution on the electric chair of Blackgate Prison. As a result of his botched electrocution he has become a paraplegic who is confined to lying in his bed, unable to move any part of his body below his head. However, his execution also had the by-effect of turning him into the human equivalent of a battery: when electricity comes into close proximity of his body, he can absorb it and store it within his cells, not only temporarily restoring the functionality of his body and Galvan's control over it, but also granting him some electricity-based powers like the ability to emit high-voltage electric jolts from his hands. Due to the changed nature of his body, he is in continuous need to find electricity that he can absorb to replace the energy he is spending. In his first story he went on a vendetta, trying to track down and kill all the people who were present as witnesses during his execution, among them Batman's ally James Gordon, Commissioner of the Gotham City Police. If Galvan runs out of energy, he collapses like a technical device whose battery is empty and becomes a helpless paraplegic again—until he comes into contact with electricity again. In later stories he is mostly seen as a permanent occupant in the infirmary of Blackgate Prison, where he is kept lying in a bed and cynically commenting on his environment as a result of his disability, which makes it impossible to keep him in a regular cell like the other prisoners. In order to prevent him from regaining his powers, the guards try to keep Galvan physically away from electrical devices or any other sources from which he may draw new energy. |
| Gearhead | Detective Comics #712 | Nathan Finch had lost his arms and legs when frostbite affected him after a fight with Batman. An unnamed underworld doctor replaces them with cybernetic limbs. |
| General | Detective Comics #654 | See also: Anarky. Ulysses Hadrian Armstrong was a brilliant military strategist who also happened to be a psychopathic, murderous eight-year-old child. Called the General, he was obsessed with war and victory and embarked on his plan of declaring war on Gotham City. Subsequent depictions toned down the character's violent streak somewhat, though he was still dangerous. He was later seen as an adolescent who briefly took on the persona of the new Anarky. During DC Rebirth, Ulysses is a seen as a young genius working for a military organization, where he is depicted as a cheerful yet sociopathic adolescent who goes by Th3 G3n3r4l online. |
| Gentleman Ghost | Flash Comics #88 | Primarily a Hawkman foe, the spectre once named James Craddock often finds himself at odds with Batman. |
| Getaway Genius | Batman #170 | The Getaway Genius is a criminal and getaway mastermind who has encountered Batman several times. |
| Globe | Detective Comics #840 | Hammond Carter is obsessed with maps and "plots crimes by latitude, longitude, time zones, and the shape of landmasses." |
| Gorilla Boss of Gotham City | Batman #75 | Mobster George "Boss" Dyke is executed in the gas chamber, but has his brain transplanted into the body of a gorilla. The Gorilla Boss of Gotham City fights Batman twice. Later, the alien villain Sinestro steals the Gorilla Boss' cerebellum, expands it to planet-size, and uses it as a power source. This unnatural abomination is destroyed by Superman. Later, however, the Gorilla Boss is returned to life in his gorilla body and is used as a pawn by Gorilla Grodd. |
| Gunhawk | Detective Comics #674 | Liam Hawkleigh is a highly-paid mercenary who has encountered Batman and Robin several times. He had a female companion named Gunbunny, later Pistolera, who is a member of the Ravens. After the death of Pistolera, Gunhawk gets himself a new female partner, the second Gunbunny. |
| Gustav DeCobra | Detective Comics #455 | Gustav DeCobra is a vampire, very much in the classic Dracula mold, whom Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth stumble upon in a seemingly abandoned house after their car overheats in the countryside. |
| Harpy | Batman #481 | Iris was Maxie Zeus' girlfriend when he was in Arkham Asylum. She fought Batman after gaining super-strength and agility, but was bested by him. |
| Hatman | Detective Comics #230 | Originally posing as the Mad Hatter, this unnamed character was revealed to be an impostor. When the real Mad Hatter returned, he claimed to have disposed of the impostor, though the impostor was eventually shown to be very much alive. The former Mad Hatter impostor is currently working under the moniker of "the Hatman". |
| Headhunter | Batman #487 | The Headhunter is an assassin who attempts to kill James Gordon, but is thwarted by Batman. The Headhunter is accustomed to eliminating his targets by shooting them twice in the head. He was killed by the Swamp Thing in Batman #23. |
| Humpty Dumpty | ' #2 | Humphrey Dumpler, a large, portly, well-mannered man, is obsessed with putting broken things back together again, even if he has to take them apart. Thinking that his abusive grandmother is broken, Dumpler dismembers and reassembles her in an attempt to "fix" her. |
| Huntress | Sensation Comics #68 | Paula Brooks has battled various members of the Batman family. |
| Jane Doe | ' #1 | Jane Doe is a cipher who obsessively learns her victims' personality and mannerisms, then kills them and assumes their identity by wearing their skin, eventually becoming that individual, at least in her own mind. |
| Jackie Glee | Untold Tales of Batman #3 | Jackie Glee was a man working for Sal Maroni, but failed him for not killing a police officer named James McDouget. He told Maroni that he could kill Batman, but killed a reporter, Brian Townsend, instead, believing he was the Batman. His failure cost him his life. |
| Johnny Stitches | Gotham Underground #3 | Johnny Denetto was the right-hand man of Tobias Whale. After Tobias Whale moved his operations from Metropolis to Gotham, Denetto ran afoul of his boss and had his skin peeled off while being kept alive. Denetto was saved by Bruno Mannheim, his skin sewn together and reattached by DeSaad, becoming Mannheim's contractor in Intergang's bid to take over organized crime in Gotham. |
| Johnny Warlock | Robin #121 | A cruel enforcer working for mob boss Henry Aquista in Gotham City, Johnny Warren is fused with a demonic artifact, gaining tremendous power, but also losing a certain amount of free will. He encounters Robin and the Spoiler in his attempt to take over Aquista's operation, but burns his energy out. He then heads to Istanbul, determined in time to return to Gotham and get his revenge on the Boy Wonder. |
| Johnny Witts | Detective Comics #344 | Johnny Witts is the arrogant self-proclaimed "Crime-Boss Who's Always One Step Ahead of Batman!" Johnny Witts employs quick-thinking and quick reflexes to outwit Batman. He has countered Batman in disguise as "the Swami". |
| Junkyard Dog | ' #1 | Tucker Long is completely obsessed with scavenging prizes and treasures from garbage. He apparently has the ability to create all manner of functional items—especially weapons—from junk. He is killed by fellow Arkham inmate Doodlebug. |
| Key | All Star Comics #57 | The original Key was the head of a major crime syndicate and used various agents around the world in his misdeeds. He presumably perished after he leaped out of a cable car moving over a gorge. |
| Key | Justice League of America #41 | The second person to call himself the Key was originally a chemist with Intergang. He developed mind-expanding "psycho-chemicals" that helped activate his senses and allowed him to plan crimes mere humans could never hope to understand. Being an enemy of the Justice League as a whole, Batman was his primary enemy. In one of his most famous encounters with the Dark Knight, he tried to provoke Batman into murdering him so he could escape life itself, but the plan proved unsuccessful. |
| King of the Cats | Batman #69 | Not to be confused with the Catman, Karl Kyle is the brother and former cat-themed partner of the Catwoman. |
| King Cobra | Batman #139 | The King Cobra is a cobra-themed costumed crime boss, not to be confused with the Copperhead, King Snake, or Kobra. |
| King Snake | Robin #4 | Sir Edmund Dorrance is a martial artist who becomes a mercenary, offering his professional expertise to various anti-communist rebels, and apparently made a great deal of money in doing so. While in Santa Prisca working with local rebels, his camp is taken by surprise by government commandos and he is blinded by gunfire. He flees to Hong Kong and becomes a businessman and the leader of the feared Ghost Dragons. He eventually gravitates to Gotham, where he seizes control of the Chinatown district from the Triad gangs. This does not last long, however, and he loses control of the gang, causing him to join the terrorist cult Kobra. It is later revealed that he is the biological father of Bane. Bane tracks down his father, where King Snake tries to have his son help him in taking over Kobra. The struggle results in King Snake's apparent death. |
| King Tut | Batman Confidential #26 | Victor Goodman is an Egyptian-themed supervillain who leaves behind clues at the scene of his crimes in a similar fashion to the Riddler. |
| Kobra | Kobra #1 | Jeffrey Burr and his twin brother, Jason Burr, were born as conjoined twins but were kidnapped and separated from each other's bodies soon after their birth by the Cult of the Kobra God because a prophecy stated he would lead them to world domination. As they grew, Jeffrey became a terrorist and mad scientist, taking on the name "Kobra" as the leader of the cult. After Jason began working with another organization to combat Kobra and his cult, Kobra killed Jason, only to be haunted by visions of his deceased brother. He came into conflict with Batman after he began using Lazarus Pits of his own creation. Both Kobra and his organization would go on to fight many other heroes and a rival criminal organization called SKULL. Kobra is finally captured and eventually murdered by Black Adam. |
| Kobra | Kobra #1 | Following the death of their leader, Jeffrey Burr, Kobra resurrects Jason Burr. Jason Burr follows in his brother's footsteps and becomes the second Kobra. |
| Lady Vic | Nightwing #4 | Lady Elaine Marsh-Morton is a woman hailing from a rich British family. She becomes a hired assassin in order to prevent foreclosure on her family estate. |
| Lark | Batman #448 | The Lark is the Penguin's personal chauffeur and bodyguard. She was noted as having remarkable strength by Batman and managed to keep the Penguin alive when Black Mask was after him. |
| Lazara | Batman: Mr. Freeze | Nora Fries, Mr. Freeze's wife, is resurrected by a Lazarus Pit by Nyssa Raatko and now possesses the ability to manipulate flame and reanimate the dead. |
| Lock-Up | Robin #24 | Lyle Bolton is a former security guard who is obsessed with order and becomes a costumed vigilante who brutalizes criminals. Unlike Batman, however, he is willing and eager to kill them. He sets up a private prison for costumed villains. |
| Lord Death Man | Batman #180 | Lord Death Man is a Japanese criminal that wears a skeleton outfit. Originally, he could put himself into a yoga trance to trick people into thinking he was dead, but when the character was revived, he received "upgrades". |
| Lump | Mister Miracle #7 | The Lump is a living psychological weapon created by the malevolent New Gods of Apokolips that was used to mentally torture Batman during the Final Crisis. |
| Lunkhead | ' #1 | Lunkhead is a large, imposing, somewhat deformed bruiser of a man. He is killed by demons tricked by the Ventriloquist as revenge for destroying his Scarface puppet. |
| Lynx | Robin #1 | Ling is a beautiful martial artist and a member of the Parisian branch of the Ghost Dragons, a Chinese youth gang that serves King Snake. For failing to kill Tim Drake, King Snake takes out her left eye. Eventually, she takes control of the Ghost Dragons and attempts to expand their Gotham territory. She is later killed during an encounter with Batgirl. |
| Mabuse | ' #3 | Mabuse is a common street criminal, a "geek" in a suit of armor made from a trashcan, who faces a young Batman early in the Dark Knight's career. He is responsible for breaking Batman's nose in a fight. |
| Madame Zodiac | Batman Family #17 | Madame Zodiac first appears committing horoscope-themed crimes in Gotham City, but is defeated by Batgirl, Batwoman, and the Earth-Two Huntress. Later, she allies herself with Doctor Zodiac to obtain a set of Zodiac coins, but the two of them are defeated by Batman, Superman, and Zatanna. Recently, she reappeared helping the Riddler in solving a mystery. |
| Magician | ' #95 | A team of alternating crooks and killers who made it appear as though they were one mysterious, magical, and murderous villain known as the Magician, pulling off heists and killings around the world. |
| Magpie | The Man of Steel #3 | Margaret Pye is a jewel thief who targets jewels named after birds and then replaces the jewels with booby-trapped replicas. She is named for the magpie, who in folklore is attracted to bright, shiny things. She is among the villains who was killed by the second Tally Man. |
| March Hare | Detective Comics #841 | Harriet Pratt is an Alice's Adventures in Wonderland-themed supervillainess and a member of the Mad Hatter's Wonderland Gang. She is also referred to as March Harriet. |
| Matatoa | ' #16 | Nicknamed "the Eater of Souls", Matatoa is an immortal cursed with killing people in order to consume their souls and essence in order to maintain his existence. He traveled to Gotham to battle Batman after a voice in his head told him to seek out an "undefeated warrior" so he could take his soul. Batman was able to beat Matatoa. |
| Mekros | Batman #501 | Mekros is an assassin that was hired by Don Mercante to kill Batman, but failed to do so. |
| Metalhead | Batman #486 | During his search for Black Mask, an exhausted Batman comes across a series of waterfront taverns filled with mauled, bloody inhabitants. After interrogating one of many severely injured victims, he finds the whereabouts of the so-called "Metalhead" at the local cemetery in the Sionis family crypt, the resting place of Black Mask's family. |
| Mime | Batman #412 | Camilla Ortin is a girl who commits crimes dressed as a mime. She seldom speaks, which leads people to think she is mute. |
| Mirage | Detective Comics #511 | "Mike" is a common man who takes a course at the Academy of Crime and starts using illusions as a gimmick villain. He fights Batman twice and the Manhunter once. He is killed by Bruno Mannheim, who bashes the Mirage's head into the "Crime Bible"; then sends his body into the kitchen. |
| Mirror Man | Detective Comics #213 | Floyd Ventris is a criminal scientist who uses mirrors in his crimes in a fashion similar to the Mirror Master. In both his meetings with Batman, Ventris tries to expose Batman's secret identity. |
| Mister Camera | Batman #81 | Mister Camera is a camera-headed villain that uses cameras in his crimes. |
| Mister Cipher | Batman #71 | Not to be confused with Cypher, Mister Cipher is a masked criminal who was killed after a confrontation with Batman. |
| Mister ESPER/Captain Calamity | Detective Comics #352 | An inventor builds an ultrasonic projector able to put "telepathic" suggestions in people, specifically Batman, to distract him from his main crime. Later, as Captain Calamity, he improved his device so it could tap into the psychic powers of some people, namely Titans member Lilith. |
| Mister ZZZ | Detective Comics #824 | Gotham City gangster. Appears to be half-asleep all the time. |
| Mr. Polka-Dot/Polka-Dot Man | Detective Comics #300 | Abner Krill turns the polka-dots covering his costume into a variety of weapons. |
| Mole | World's Finest Comics #80 | A minor criminal named Harrah, nicknamed "the Mole", tries to tunnel into the Gotham City Bank, but is stopped by Batman and Superman. Years later, during a tunnel prison break, Harrah almost drowns in a wave of toxic sewage that mutates him into a mole-like creature. During a second clash with Batman, the Mole is knocked into a flooded cavern of the Batcave and washed away, his ultimate fate still unknown. |
| Monarch of Menace | Detective Comics #350 | In the early days of Batman's career, the Monarch of Menace represented the Dark Knight's only failure, being the first criminal ever to defeat Batman and leave Gotham with a fortune in stolen goods. Years later, however, the Monarch's teenage son tries to prove himself using his father's outfit in a crime spree. The young Monarch of Menace is defeated by Robin, while his father is lured out of hiding by Batman, who then finally defeats his old nemesis. |
| Monk | Detective Comics #31 | The Monk is one of the early Batman villains. He wore a red cassock with a hood that bore a skull and crossbones on it. The Monk turned out to be a vampire who has powers of hypnotism and the ability to turn into a wolf. He was destroyed by being shot with a silver bullet while asleep in his coffin, along with his vampiric assistant Dala. His battle with Batman was the first multi-part Batman adventure. The Monk's hood has been in a glass display case in the Batcave ever since, in all subsequent official continuities. |
| Mortician | ' #28 | Porter Vito was trying some reanimation techniques to raise his dead parents, but when one of his zombies killed someone, he felt remorse and gave up his plans. |
| Mortimer Kadaver | Detective Comics #588 | Mortimer Kadaver is a murderous criminal possessing a morbid obsession with death and torture. Kadaver enjoys feigning his own death and his hideout is filled with a wide variety of means of murder and torture. |
| NKVDemon | Batman #445 | Gregor Dosynski is the protégé of KGBeast who tries to kill a list of 10 Soviet government officials in Moscow, considering them traitors to the cause of communism. He is killed by police gunfire in an attempt to assassinate the 10th person on his list, then-premier Mikhail Gorbachev. |
| NKVDemon | Aquaman #8 | An assassin named Nicodemus takes up the mantle and costume of the original NKVDemon and is hired to kill Aquaman. He is defeated by Aquaman and Batman and eventually killed while in jail. |
| NKVDemon | Robin #47 | The third NKVDemon initially works for Ulysses "the General" Armstrong. More recently, he served as the bodyguard to the head of the Gotham Odessa crime family and was killed in the shootout that incited the Gotham gang war. |
| Mutant Leader | The Dark Knight Returns | In the Frank Miller Batman Universe, the Mutant Leader was the leader of a gang known as the Mutants until the Batman came out of retirement and defeated the Mutant Leader, dismantling the Mutants. |
| Narcosis | ' #50 | Real name unknown, he uses dream-inducing gasses to rob his victims of their sense of reality. His mother was a lush and his father was a thief. They were both sent away and he was neglectfully passed around the city. At the age of five, his face was horrifically burned in a kitchen accident and, coupled with his family being split up, he began having chronic nightmares. He hates Gotham for being neglectful and wishes to plunge the city into an ever-lasting nightmare. |
| Nicodemus | Batman #601 | Thomas Hart is a masked figure in Gotham City who kidnaps corrupt city officials and burns them to death. He, like the Batman, had lost his parents to a Gotham crime at an early age. |
| Nocturna | Detective Comics #529 | Natalia Knight is a thief and manipulator whose skin was bleached pale white by an experimental laser. Sensitive to light, she prefers to operate in darkness. Her adopted half-brother and lover is Anton Knight, originally known as the Thief of Night and then known as Night-Slayer. |
| Ogre and Ape | Batman #535 | Michael Adams is a genetically altered man whose "brother" is a genetically enhanced gorilla. The Ogre has increased strength and the Ape has increased intelligence. The Ogre tracks and murders the scientists who had collaborated with the experiment, only to be tracked by Batman himself. In the end, the Ape is killed and the Ogre wanders aimlessly through Gotham City. |
| Orca | Batman #579 | Grace Balin is a marine biologist who transforms herself into a monstrous human/orca hybrid, first attempting to steal a valuable necklace. She is among the villains who were killed by the second Tally Man. |
| Outsider | Detective Comics #356 | The Outsider is the Earth-3 incarnation of Alfred Pennyworth and the leader of the Secret Society of Super Villains. |
| Panara | Catwoman #37 | Ms. Dorsey is a young woman that is diagnosed with an incurable disease. She seeks the aid of a geneticist who specializes in radical cures for illnesses. He traps the Catwoman, believing her to be a were-cat and thinking her to have special DNA, to use in Dorsey's cure, but finds that she was a "mere human". |
| Penny Plunderer | World's Finest Comics #30 | Joe Coyne, a thief obsessed with penny-oriented crimes, starts his career selling newspapers for pennies. He is later caught stealing pennies and gets the electric chair. The giant penny on display in the Batcave, which has been a longtime staple of Batman's lair, was originally one of the Penny Plunderer's devices. |
| Pistolera | Detective Comics #674 | Gunbunny is a costumed criminal and the former partner and lover of Gunhawk. After a falling out with Gunhawk, she became a western-themed villainess known as Pistolera and joined a group called the Ravens. She is later shot and killed by Deadshot. |
| Pix | ' #34 | Ariadne Pixnit is an avant-garde tattoo artist who used "nanite-ink", a nanobot-filled color matrix that she could program to form itself into designs on her subjects. After being beaten and raped by a street gang, Pixnit works undercover at her attackers' favorite tattoo shop, designing lethal tattoos that she brings to "life" via computer in order to dispatch the gang members one by one. She later injects a large amount of the nanite-ink into her skull, giving her the ability to create creatures and weapons on her skin that she could animate and use against Batman. |
| Planet Master | Detective Comics #296 | Professor Norbert starts a crime wave using gimmicks based on the nine planets after inhaling a strange gas which turns him into a "Jekyll and Hyde"-like character. After the gas' effect wears off, it is revealed that Norbert's assistant, Burke, is the one who has manipulated him into committing crimes. The Planet Master later appears as a member of Kobra's Strikeforce Kobra, and still later as part of the Society during the Infinite Crisis. |
| Professor Carl Kruger | Detective Comics #33 | Professor Krueger is a mad scientist who uses elaborate schemes and devices in order to battle Batman. |
| Professor Milo | Detective Comics #247 | Professor Achilles Milo is a scientist who uses chemicals to battle Batman, most famously transforming Anthony Lupus into a mutated werewolf. |
| Professor Radium | Batman #8 | Professor Henry Ross is a scientist who is accidentally transformed into "a human radium ray". In need of an expensive antidote, Ross uses his newfound powers to commit crimes in Gotham; anxious not to hurt anyone, he accidentally kills his girlfriend, Mary Lamont. Going insane, Professor Radium finds himself battling Batman and Robin. He seems to drown in his first appearance, but returns in recent times and is revealed to have joined a subgroup of the Secret Society of Super Villains known as the Nuclear Legion. |
| Proteus | Beware the Creeper #2 | Offalian immigrant Remington Percival Cord escapes an environment of fear and violence of his home country to America, but finds the same brutality he escaped. Becoming a shape-shifting figure in the Gotham underworld, Proteus emerges as the nemesis of the Creeper. |
| Puppet Master | Batman #3 | Not to be confused with the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the Puppet Master is a criminal who uses his thought waves and puppets to control people after an injection from a chemical weakens their will. |
| Rainbow Beast | Batman #134 | After helping the president of a small South American republic against a dictatorial rebel, Batman and Robin are confronted with another menace—a Rainbow Beast. Spawned from a fiery volcano, the Rainbow Beast radiates four separate power-auras from different areas of its body. However, after using a power, the section of the Beast's body used becomes white, and it must leach color to regain its power. Batman and Robin trick the Rainbow Beast into expending all of its auras, leaving it entirely colorless. They ram it with a log and the Beast shatters into fragments. |
| Raven | Detective Comics #287 | Joe Parker was given the identity of Raven as a pawn for aliens Kzan and Jhorl who seek a meteorite. |
| Raven | Batman Family #18 | Dave Corby is an agent for MAZE that battled Robin and Batgirl on occasion. |
| Reaper | Detective Comics #237 | Dr. Benjamin Gruener is a Holocaust survivor who took on the Reaper identity in order to exact revenge on his former Nazi captors. |
| Reaper | Detective Comics #575 | After losing his wife in a robbery, Judson Caspian became a vigilante and began murdering criminals. |
| Reaper | ' | Joe Chill Jr., the son of Joe Chill, briefly became the Reaper as part of a plan to drive Batman insane. |
| Roadrunner | Detective Comics #876 | Once an exotic car dealer, Bixby Rhodes took the opportunity to start smuggling guns and other firearms to the newcomers in Gotham's crime world when Gotham City's organized crime fell after the capture of Jeremiah Arkham as the new Black Mask. Taking up the nickname of "Roadrunner", Bixby would deliver guns in the trunks of custom ordered cars. |
| Rob Callender | World's Finest Comics #11 | Rob Callender is a laboratory assistant from the future who became a thief after being transported to the present day. |
| Savage Skull | Batman #360 | Jack Crane is a rogue cop that is fired from the Gotham City Police Department due to his illegal activities. Disfigured in an accident that burns off his skin, Crane seeks revenge as the Savage Skull, but is defeated by Batman. |
| Sewer King | 52 #25 | The Sewer King is a staff-carrying, sewer-dwelling villain with an army of runaway children he uses as pickpockets. He appeared among other obscure villains slain at the hands of Intergang boss Bruno Mannheim. |
| Signalman | Batman #112 | Phil Cobb is a small-time criminal in Gotham who is convinced that he needs a gimmick to hit it big. Inspired by the Bat-Signal, he becomes the Signalman, using signals, signs, and symbols in his crimes, but is inevitably defeated by Batman and Robin time and again. He is also a member of the Secret Society of Super Villains. For a brief time, Cobb changes his modus operandi and, inspired by Green Arrow, commits crimes as the Blue Bowman. Signalman is kidnapped and tortured by Dr. Moon and Phobia, and is presumed deceased, but later appears as a drug-addicted informant to Black Lightning. |
| Snowman | Batman #337 | Klaus Kristin is the son of a male yeti and a human woman. In his first appearance, he comes to Gotham City to freeze it over, but encounters Batman in the process. |
| Spellbinder | Detective Comics #358 | Delbert Billings is a painter who uses optical illusions and hypnotic weapons to commit crimes. Spellbinder is on the run from the law with his new girlfriend, Fay Moffit, when he is confronted by the demon-lord Neron, who makes an offer of immense power in exchange for his soul. Spellbinder declines, but Fay shoots Spellbinder in the head and accepts the offer for herself. |
| Spellbinder | Justice League International #65 | A genuine mystic takes the name and appears as a member of the government-sanctioned "League-Busters". |
| Spellbinder | Detective Comics #691 | During the Underworld Unleashed crossover event, Delbert Billings turns down Neron's offer and is shot by his girlfriend, Fay Moffit, who then takes the deal and becomes Lady Spellbinder. |
| Spinner | Batman #129 | Swami Ygar is a villain in a metal-clad outfit that is lined with metal discs. |
| Spook | Detective Comics #434 | Val Kaliban is one of the world's greatest escape artists, and uses his extraordinary abilities together with special effects to commit spectacular crimes and make people believe he was a real ghost. After several battles with Batman, he is killed by Damian Wayne. |
| Steeljacket | Detective Comics #681 | Steeljacket is a bio-engineering experiment, a cross between man and bird. His hollow bones give him extremely light weight, allowing him to fly. However, he must wear metallic armor to protect his frail body. |
| Stranger | Batman #78 | Really a Martian criminal Quork, who steals a spaceship and comes to Earth to steal weapons with his incredible technology, as weapons are outlawed on Mars. He is pursued by the First Lawmen of Mars, who team up with Batman and Robin, having observed them from Mars. The Stranger meets the lawmen but kidnaps Robin, and is tracked down by a bug the Martian Manhunter has placed in his pocket. Robin is tied to a missile which is launched but is saved, and Quork is taken back to Mars. |
| Sylph | Nightwing #48 | Sylvan Scofield is the daughter of an inventor of a micro-thin fabric that can be manipulated into shooting out from around the wearer. Her abilities including gliding and wrapping others with the cloth. When others try to steal this invention, her father commits suicide and she goes after those she believe caused it in Blüdhaven. It was believed that she had committed suicide after her encounter with Nightwing, but that was later proven to not be the case. |
| Synaptic Kid | Detective Comics #633 | The Synaptic Kid is a deformed metahuman telepath who attempts to enter Batman's mind and learn his secret identity for the purpose of blackmailing him, only to be rendered comatose when the attempt backfires. |
| Tally Man | ' #19 | The Tally Man is a killer for hire who has murdered around 60 people. He wears a mask over his face, a long purplish smock with ruffed sleeves and an oversized top hat. |
| Tally Man | Detective Comics #819 | A hit man using the "Tally Man" moniker later surfaces while under the employ of the Great White Shark. |
| Ten-Eyed Man | Batman #226 | Philip Reardon is a former Vietnam War veteran and warehouse guard who is blinded in a warehouse explosion that burns his retinas. Doctor Engstrom reconnects them to his fingers. Reardon blames Batman for his blindness. He was killed by one of the Anti-Monitor's Shadow-Demons during the Crisis. |
| Thanatos | Batman #305 | Thanatos is the masked leader of the gang of terrorists known as the "Death's Head", devoted to the destruction of capitalism. The Death's Head is defeated by Batman, and Thanatos is unmasked as Sophia Santos, also known as "Lina Muller", a reporter who had associated with Batman. |
| Thor | Batman #127 | Henry Meke is proprietor of a small museum featuring replicas of mythological curios. One night, a meteorite smashed through a window, hit the Hammer of Thor, and disintegrated. The hammer began to glow and Meke reached out to examine it. After touching the hammer, he was transformed into the mighty Thor himself. The metamorphosis is repeated during thunderstorms. Thor then began a quest to finance the building of a temple to Odin by robbing banks. |
| Tiger Shark | Detective Comics #147 | Dr. Gaige is a famous oceanographer turned gang leader. He operates at sea and at Gotham's waterfront. |
| Trapper | Detective Comics #206 | Jason Bard is a criminal who is obsessed with animal traps and uses them in his crimes. He is not to be confused with the actual Jason Bard, who is a member of the Gotham City Police Department. |
| Trigger Twins | Detective Comics #666 | The Trigger Twins are two cowboys that grew up apart without knowing they were twins. They discover they share a great skill as gunslingers and become bandits, taking their motif from their heroic Wild West namesakes. They are seemingly killed during the Infinite Crisis. |
| Torque | Nightwing #1 | Inspector Dudley "Deadly" Soames was the most corrupt cop working in the Blüdhaven Police Department before a near-death experience. He then became a supervillain called Torque. |
| Ugly American | ' #6 | Jon Kennedy Payne was brainwashed by the U.S. government to be an assassin with extreme patriotic emotions. Something went wrong, however, and he developed a hatred for non-whites and foreigners of all shapes and sizes, including dogs like poodles. His rage came to an end when he was taken out by agents of the same government that created him as Batman subdued him. |
| Wasp | Detective Comics #287 | Willie Blaine was given the identity of the Wasp as a pawn for aliens Kzan and Jhorl that sought a meteorite. |
| Wa'arzen | The Brave and the Bold #180 | Wa'arzen is the vengeful spectre of an ancient Japanese wizard. |
| Weasand | Batman: Blackgate – Isle of Men #1 | Weasand is referred to as one of the prisoners who escape from Blackgate Penitentiary in the aftermath of the earthquake in '. He is shown as tall and extremely thin. |
| Werewolf | Batman #255 | Anthony Lupus is a former Olympic decathlon champion who is turned into a werewolf by a drug given to him by Professor Milo. |
| Wrath | Batman Special #1 | The original character to become the Anti-Batman, known as the Wrath, was a child who watched his criminal parents die at the hands of a then-rookie policeman named James Gordon, who killed them in self-defense. As an adult, the Wrath becomes a cop killer who copies many of Batman's methods, except for a readiness to use both lethal force and firearms to accomplish his goals. He is killed in a battle with Batman. |
| Wrath | Batman Confidential #13 | Elliot Caldwell was one of the several orphan children whom the original Wrath kidnapped in order to train them to become Scorn, the Anti-Robin. Caldwell was the only orphan to survive the training, but was unable to become Scorn due to the Wrath's untimely death. When Caldwell grew into an adult, he became the second Wrath and devoted himself to the original Wrath's cause. As the C.E.O. of Caldwell Tech, Caldwell began creating an army of soldiers to take on the Scorn identity. |
| Zebra-Man | Detective Comics #275 | Jacob Baker is the original Zebra-Man, who was a high-tech scientist whose body is irradiated, granting him "magnetic" powers to attract or repel metal, wood, stone, and human flesh. His name comes from the black and white stripes on his body. |
| Zebra-Man | Outsiders #21 | A second Zebra-Man is later created by Kobra as a member of Strikeforce Kobra in order to combat the Outsiders. |
| Zebra-Man | #1 | A version of Zebra-Man, who goes by the name "Vortex", appears in The New 52 as an inmate of Arkham Asylum. |
| Zeiss | Batman #582 | Philo Zeiss possesses surgically enhanced speed, reflexes, vision-enhancing goggles, and extensive martial arts training. Brought up by the Sicilian Mafia, Zeiss eventually becomes a contract killer and bodyguard. He fights Batman to a standstill and nearly kills the Catwoman. |
| Zodiac Master | Detective Comics #323 | The masked villain known as the Zodiac Master makes his presence known in Gotham by predicting a succession of disasters, all of which he has secretly orchestrated. Having cemented his reputation, he starts offering odds on the relative success or failure for the plans of various criminals, all in exchange for 25% of the take. A mini-figure version of him appears in The Lego Batman Movie. |
Teams
The following is a list of fictional teams or groups of supervillains that are enemies of the Batman family, listed in alphabetical order by name. The first appearance and a brief fictional biography of each team is also listed.| Villains | First appearance | Fictional biography | Notable members |
| Batman Revenge Squad | World's Finest Comics #175 | The Batman Revenge Squad is a trio of villains who don similar costumes to Batman in a bid to destroy him. | Cash Carew Barney the Blast Flamethrower |
| Black Glove | Batman #667 | The Black Glove is a corrupt and exclusive organisation led by Doctor Hurt that is made up of wealthy and villainous individuals. | Dr. Hurt Jezebel Jet Cardinal Maggi Al-Khidr Sir Anthony General Malenkov Senator Vine |
| Circus of Strange | Batman and Robin #1 | The Circus of Strange is a circus-themed group of criminals led by Professor Pyg. | Professor Pyg Mr. Toad Big Top Kushti Phospherous Rex |
| Club of Villains | Batman #676 | The Club of Villains is made up of supervillains led by Dr. Hurt as an antithesis to the Club of Heroes. | Dr. Hurt Joker Le Bossu Pierrot Lunaire King Kraken Charlie Caligula El Sombrero Jezebel Jet Scorpiana Swagman |
| Court of Owls | Batman #2 | The subjects of a popular Gotham City nursery rhyme, the shadowy Court of Owls is a secret society composed of some of the most powerful men and women in Gotham City. They use assassins known as Talons to eliminate threats. | Joseph Powers Maria Powers |
| Disgraced | Batgirl #10 | The Disgraced would use whatever means necessary to apprehend, torment, and kill all criminals. | Knightfall Bone Breaker Bleak Michael Katharsis |
| Dollmaker Family | Detective Comics #1 | The Dollmaker Family is a family of serial killers led by the Dollmaker that run an organ trade business and make dolls out of human flesh. | Dollmaker Dollhouse Bentley Jack-in-the-Box Sampson Olivia Carr Orifice Unnamed character Toyman |
| Falcone Crime Family | Batman #404 | The Falcone Crime Family was an organized crime syndicate that was prominent during the early years of Batman's crime fighting career. | Vincent Falcone Carmine Falcone Mario Falcone Alberto Falcone Mario Falcone Sofia Falcone Gigante |
| False Face Society | Batman #152 | The False Face Society is a gang of masked criminals led by Black Mask. | Black Mask Black Spider Circe Metalhead Mad Bull Edgar Dempsy Dwarf |
| Fearsome Foot-Fighters | Detective Comics #372 | Experts in a French form of kickboxing, these acrobatic martial artists hail from the fictional Balkan nation of Karonia. | Idimo |
| Gorilla Gang | Batman #156 | The Gorilla Gang is a group of criminals who dress up in gorilla suits and commit crimes. | Luke Pete |
| Kings of the Sun | Detective Comics #30 | The Kings of the Sun are a biker gang that has moved in on Gotham City, led by Holter. | Holter |
| League of Smiles | Detective Comics #16 | The League of Smiles is a cult of criminals that hero-worships the Joker. | Merrymaker Philip Miles Annie McCloud David "Happy" Hill Rodney the Torch |
| Leviathan | ' | Leviathan is a shadowy organization with origins unknown, capable of creating surgically and genetically altered super-humans. They have also shown an ability to brainwash people for their cause. The leader of the organization is Talia Head. | Talia Head Heretic Fatherless Leviathan Son of Pyg |
| Maroni Crime Family | Detective Comics #66 | Led by Sal Maroni, the Maroni Crime Family are a prominent crime family in Gotham City. In the early years of Batman's career, the Maronis often vied for power and control of the Gotham City's criminal underworld with the Falcone Crime Family. | Big Lou Maroni Sal Maroni Tony Zucco |
| Masters of Disaster | Batman and the Outsiders #9 | The Masters of Disaster are a group of mercenaries with an elemental theme. | New Wave Shakedown Coldsnap Heatstroke Windfall |
| Mirror House Cult | Detective Comics #871 | A cult led by the Dealer that religiously believes in immorality, the Mirror House Cult gathers at the Mirror House. | Dealer |
| Misfits | ' #7 | The Misfits are a group of Batman's enemies led by Killer Moth. | Killer Moth Catman Calendar Man Chancer |
| Mud Pack | Detective Comics #604 | The Mud Pack are a group composed of several of the supervillains who call themselves "Clayface". During their alliance, Basil Karlo, the original Clayface, consumes samples of the other Clayfaces, gaining all of their unique superpowers and abilities, becoming the "Ultimate Clayface". | Basil Karlo Matt Hagen Preston Payne Sondra Fuller |
| Mutants | The Dark Knight Returns | A gang of mutant punks that have taken over the city, the Mutants typically wear visors and have shaved or Mohawk hair styles. There was also a version of the Mutants that appear on New Earth. | Mutant Leader Don Rob |
| Network | Batman: Family #1 | The Network is a crime family led by the Athena. | Athena Bugg Dr. Excess Freeway Mr. Fun Suicide King Technician Tracker |
| New Olympians | Batman and the Outsiders #14 | The New Olympians are Maxie Zeus' group of mercenaries selected to represent Greek and Roman gods in order to disrupt the 1984 Olympics. | Monitor Antaeus Argus Diana Nox Vulcanus |
| Red Hood Gang | The Red Hood Gang is a gang of Gotham criminals who rotate men under the guise of their leader in order to help protect the identity of the gang's true leaders if a job goes wrong. The most notable faux leader of the Red Hood Gang was the man who became the Joker. | Joker Joe An unnamed member | |
| Royal Flush Gang | Justice League of America #43 | There have been several incarnations of the Royal Flush Gang. Each gang has consisted of a King, Queen, Jack, Ten and Ace. Over the years, several aristocratic crime gangs existed where they bring in new members when the old ones retire or go to jail. At one point, a King was in charge of several members after which Batman broke up the group. | King Queen Jack Ten Ace |
| Seven Men of Death | Batman #670 | The Seven Men of Death is a group belonging to Ra's Al Ghul's League of Assassins. | Detonator Hook Maduvu Merlyn Razorburn Shellcase Whip An unnamed member |
| Spyral | Batman Incorporated #4 | Spyral is an international spy agency, recently headed up by the enigmatic Doctor Dedalus. Following his death, the agency came under the leadership of his daughter Kathy Kane, the original Batwoman. | Agent 1 Agent 24 Agent 19 Agent 37 Frau Netz Matron Dr. Ashemore |
| Strike Force Kobra | Outsiders #21 | Strike Force Kobra is a group of super-powered operatives created by Kobra based upon some of Batman's rogues in an operation against Stagg Enterprises. Kobra operative Eve would form another incarnation that would menace the Outsiders led by the Eradicator. | Clayface IV Planet Master Elemental Woman Zebra-Man Spectrumonster Windfall Fauna Faust Dervish Spectra |
| Terminus' group | Batman and Robin #10 | Terminus was, by his own account, beaten by Batman at some point in his past and as a result he has some rare condition that required painful treatment to extend his life. He vowed to spend the remainder of his life in pursuit of defeating Batman, and showing the people of Gotham that Batman is the true villain. He gathers a group of villains who all blame the Batman for their current conditions. | Terminus Bathead Bootface Scallop Smush |
| Terrible Trio | Detective Comics #253 | Warren Lawford, Armand Lydecker, and Gunther Hardwicke are a trio of magnates and scientists who wear masks of cartoon animals to commit crimes as the Fox, the Shark, and the Vulture, and have obsessions with Earth, Water, and Air. | Warren Lawford Armand Lydecker Gunther Hardwicke Great White Shark |
| Underworld Olympics | Batman #272 | Underworld Olympics is an organization that hosts an international contest of the best criminals in the world separated by South American, North American, European, and Afro-Asian branches to see what region has the most accomplished villains on Earth. | Various branches |
| Victim Syndicate | Detective Comics #943 | Victim Syndicate is a criminal organization composed of people who have been hurt through Batman's exploits against his Rogues Gallery. Their goal is to rid Gotham of Batman and the Bat-Family forever. | The First Victim Madame Crow Mister Noxious Mudface Mute Anarky |
| Wonderland Gang | Detective Comics #841 | The Wonderland Gang is a gang of supervillains themed around Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. | Mad Hatter Tweedledee Tweedledum March Hare White Rabbit Unicorn Lion Walrus Carpenter |
Mobsters and plainclothes criminals
Besides his infamous rogues gallery of supervillains, Batman has also faced more "ordinary" enemies, such as assassins, mobsters and terrorists.In alphabetical order
| Villain | First appearance | Description |
| Able Crown | Detective Comics #743 | Able Crown is a local thug that has had a few run ins with Batman. Crown is also the same gangster who accidentally starts a huge gang war in Gotham City. |
| Alfred Stryker | Detective Comics #27 | Alfred Stryker is the mastermind behind a chemical syndicate. He was killed in a confrontation with Batman when he fell into a vat of acid early in Batman's vigilante career. |
| Athena | Detective Comics #775 | Celia Kazantkakis is a former CEO of Wayne Enterprises and current leader of a criminal organization called the Network. |
| Bad Cop | Batman Confidential #22 | Geoff Shancoe is a former police officer that was tortured into insanity by the Joker. |
| Brainy Walker | Detective Comics #242 | Brainy Walker was paroled after three years for counterfeiting and immediately set out to commit fresh crimes. This time though, he used counterfeit thousand-dollars in bills as a distraction. He first planted the phony bills around Gotham City and broadcast clues to their whereabouts. The streets were choked as citizen sought the money. This kept the police occupied with crowd control and traffic control, allowing Walker to commit robberies in relative peace. Walker then tricked Robin into accidentally telling the location of the Batcave. Batman worked with Alfred Pennyworth to make Walker believed Robin's slip of the tongue was part of a plan to trap Walker and his men. When Walker gave up seeking the secret headquarters, he and his gang were finally apprehended. |
| Bruno Groft and Lekkey | Batman #128 | Bruno Groft was a foreign agent and assassin-for-hire whose gang kidnapped the Prince, Princess, and Ambassador of Morania. Batman and Robin defeated the gang and prevented Lekkey from assassinating the royal couple. |
| Carmine "The Roman" Falcone | Batman #404 | Carmine Falcone is a powerful crime boss in the early years of Batman's career and the leader of the Falcone Crime Family. He is the father of Alberto Falcone, Mario Falcone, and Sofia Falcone Gigante. |
| Catfoot Regan and Beetles Branagan | Batman #134 | Batman and Robin apprehend Catfoot Regan trying to rob jewels from the movement of a huge clock at a clock fair. Clues on Regan's clothes lead them to the thief's boss, Beetles Branagan, operating a crime-ring from above the city in a huge advertising balloon. |
| Ernie Chubb | Batman and Wildcat #1 | Ernie Chubb is a criminal currently incarcerated at Blackgate Penitentiary. |
| Erin McKillen | Batman and Robin #24 | Erin McKillen and her twin sister Shannon were born into the McKillen crime family. When they were little, they attended school with Bruce Wayne, who was still in mourning for his parents. Erin was regarded as a feisty child, getting into trouble and stealing kisses from Bruce. Upon the death of her father, she and Shannon took control of the McKillen family, and while she gained a penchant for ruthlessness, she and her twin sister were eventually arrested and sent to Blackgate Penitentiary. After losing three appeals, their defense attorney Harvey Dent betrayed them by joining the D.A.'s office and personally helping to keep them locked up. When Erin escaped from Blackgate, after her sister sacrificed her life to help Erin, she visited Harvey Dent, murdered his wife and scarred his face as a reminder of how he treated them. |
| Faceless | Batman #542 | Joseph Zedno is a killer who removes the faces of his victims. |
| Frenchy Blake | Detective Comics #28 | Frenchy Blake is a dapper criminal who ran a successful group of jewel thieves. |
| Gentleman Jim Jansen | Batman #134 | Gentleman Jim Jansen was an orchid fancier and smuggler whom Batman and Robin discover trying to smuggle hot diamonds inside orchids. |
| Graham | Batman #130 | Graham was an expert builder of replicas of ancient weapons for movies. He begins leading a gang that uses ancient weapons such as ballistas and caltrops to loot banks. |
| Gregorian Falstaff | Batman #317 | Gregorian Falstaff is a reclusive billionaire and business rival of Bruce Wayne who time and again tries to put Wayne Enterprises out of business. He once tried to kill Batman with an energy gun, but was pushed by Talia al Ghul into the gunfire, which instantly killed him. |
| Henri Ducard | Detective Comics #599 | Henri Ducard was once one of Batman's teachers in the art of crime fighting. Years later, Batman learns that his former mentor is a master criminal. He appears in the three-part miniseries "Blind Justice" in Detective Comics and a few other times later on. |
| James Gordon Jr. | Batman #407 | The son of Commissioner Gordon and his ex-wife Barbara Kean, Gordon is a psychopathic serial killer and is primarily an enemy of his sister, Batgirl, and sometimes Dick Grayson. |
| Joe Chill | Detective Comics #33 | Joe Chill is the mugger who murdered Bruce Wayne's parents, inspiring him to become Batman. Different continuities have portrayed him as a small-time criminal, a mob boss or a professional assassin. |
| Lew Moxon | Detective Comics #235 | Lew Moxon is a mob boss who hired Joe Chill to kill Thomas Wayne, which sparked Bruce Wayne into becoming Batman, as well as bringing the villain Zeiss to Gotham City. |
| Matt Thorne | Batman #62 | Matt Thorne is an American criminal that brought several fellows felons with him to England to search of hidden Nazi treasure. They were thwarted in there efforts by the United Kingdom protectors, The Knight and Squire, aided by the Dynamic Duo. |
| Mr. Lyon | Batman #19 | Lyon criminal who frames the Joker for placing people in animal enclosures that echo their names. He claims the Joker sent him a note threatening to place him in a lion cage, and uses this as an excuse to get bodyguards inside a secure area, which he uses to commit a robbery. The Joker hears of his framing, and places Lyon, Batman, and Robin inside a lion cage, but the Dynamic Duo are able to escape with Lyon, who is arrested along with the Joker. |
| Peter Pan Killer | Detective Comics #875 | Roy M. Blount is a serial killer and pedophile that kidnaps children in Gotham City with a Peter Pan-motif. |
| Rex Calabrese | Batman Eternal #4 | Rex Calabrese is a gangster who used to run the Mob in Gotham City, his power was so immense he became known as the Lion. Operating around the mid twentieth century, Calabrese believed in something he referred to as the Natural Order. He believed that one day, much like he had done to the previous Mob boss, a new up and coming gangster would depose of him and kill him. This self-made prophecy was self-fulfilling as Calabrese was killed and his empire taken over by Carmine Falcone. Though he was not really dead but imprisoned in Blackgate, he was revealed as the father of Selina Kyle though they are estranged. |
| Ruby Ryder | The Brave and the Bold #95 | The world's richest woman and top female tycoon, based in Gotham City, Ruby Ryder is also a femme fatale and a full-fledged big time criminal. Three meetings with Batman ended in defeat and prison. She also encounters Metamorpho, Green Arrow, the Metal Men, and Plastic Man. |
| Rupert Thorne | Detective Comics #469 | Rupert Thorne is a prominent head of one of Gotham City's top smuggling gangs. He is also the boss of Matches Malone, the criminal whose identity was taken over by Batman. |
| Salvatore "The Boss" Maroni | Detective Comics #66 | Boss Sal Maroni is the leader of the Maroni Crime Family and the gangster most notable for scarring Harvey Dent. |
| Sleeper Killer | Batman #516 | A killer who was under the control of her handler, Remmy, who was assassinated by a government agent. |
| Squid | Detective Comics #497 | The Squid is a Chinese crimeboss in Gotham City. He takes control of the underworld and almost succeeds in defeating Batman before apparently being killed by Killer Croc, a former member of the Squid's gang. However, the Squid returns alive, only to die again as one of the crime bosses killed by Bruno Mannheim. |
| Sterling Silversmith | Detective Comics #446 | Sterling T. Silversmith has been obsessed with silver since childhood and now, as a silver-haired older man, has amassed a fortune in stolen goods. Bullets bounce off Silversmith thanks to a silver alloy woven into the fabric of his white suit. Batman has fought him twice, and once prevented Silversmith from murdering the Crime Doctor. |
| Tobias Whale | Black Lightning #1 | Primarily the nemesis of Black Lightning, Tobias Whale moved his Metropolis-based operations to Gotham becoming a figurehead in organized crime after the demise of the Black Mask. This accomplishment is short-lived when the likewise Metropolis-based Intergang follows suit and Whale is forced to join their organization. |
| Tommy "Mangles" Manchester | Batman #519 | Tommy "Mangles" Manchester was a feared ruffian who haunted the east end of Gotham City. Due to his imposing size—being a tall man with bulging muscles—even most policemen did not dare to mess with him even though he was responsible for several murders. Eventually Police Commissioner Gordon arrested him—after a brutal fight mano-a-mano—as his last official act before resinging from his post as chief of the Gotham City Police. During his time in Blackgate Prison Manchester had a run-in with the Joker who seriously wounded him. After a strong earthquake devastated Gotham City Manchester teamed up with the cyborg Gearhead who had lost some of his protheses at the time, strapping the damaged man to his back, in a way merging both villains into a hybrid villain. When last seen Manchester tried to barge into a gathering of members of the Gotham Police in an attempt to take some revenge on James Gordon. |
| Tony Zucco | Detective Comics #38 | Tony Zucco is a mob boss who is responsible for the death of Dick Grayson's parents. In most continuities, Zucco tries to extort the circus the Graysons work for. When the ringmaster refuses to pay him, he sabotages the act by causing the highwire ropes to break, which sends Dick's parents falling to their deaths. |
| Wylie | Detective Comics #42 |
Two of Batman's mobster foes have donned costumes and crossed over to become supervillains:
- Hangman: A serial killer who murders police officers on every holiday of the year, leaving behind a version of the children's word game "Hangman" with each new victim. All of the victims are police officers who, in one way or another, helped Harvey Dent rise to his position of District Attorney. In the end, the Hangman is revealed to be Sofia Falcone Gigante, daughter of the late crime boss, Carmine Falcone.
- Holiday: Mysterious serial killer who murders mobsters and others over a year. The killer's weapon is a.22 pistol with the handle taped and the serial number filed off. Also, every crime takes place on a holiday and a small trinket representing each holiday is left behind at the scene. Alberto Falcone, youngest son of Carmine Falcone, admits to be the Holiday killer, but then Harvey Dent says there were two holiday killers. Batman deduces that since he killed Vernon on Halloween with a.22 pistol, he was, in fact, the second holiday; however, later in a lone monologue Gilda reveals herself as the second or technically first Holiday, who was responsible for the first three murders.
Corrupt cops and government officials
| Villain | First appearance | Description |
| Adolf Hitler | Green Lantern #3 | A character based on the historical figure of the same name, Hitler appeared as an enemy of many members of the Justice Society, including Batman. |
| Amanda Waller | Legends #1 | Amanda Waller is a powerful government agent and mastermind who often comes into conflict with Batman and other heroes due to her questionable choices. Her moral ambiguity has put her in a position where she is portrayed in both protagonistic and antagonistic roles. |
| Arnold John Flass | Batman #404 | Then Lieutenant Jim Gordon's partner, upon his arrival in Gotham, Detective Arnold John Flass is in the pocket of drug dealer Jefferson Skeevers, crime boss Carmine Falcone, and corrupt Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb. He is apparently murdered by the Hangman killer, but had previously appeared in a story set years after the Hangman killings. |
| Branden | Batman #405 | Branden was a corrupt S.W.A.T. leader in the early days of Batman's career. He is eventually murdered by the Hangman killer. |
| Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb | Batman #404 | Gillian Loeb is the commissioner of police when Bruce Wayne first returns to Gotham and becomes Batman. He is on the payroll of Carmine Falcone and is later murdered by the Hangman killer. |
| Commissioner Grogan | Catwoman Annual #2 | Loeb's replacement as commissioner during the final part of. Grogan is described by Gordon as being even more crooked than his predecessor. |
| Commissioner Peter Pauling | Batman #341 | Peter Pauling is a puppet commissioner installed by Mayor Hill, on the behest of Rupert Thorne, who later kills him. |
| Harvey Bullock | Detective Comics #441 | Prior to the 1984–85 DC maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths, Bullock is a corrupt police detective under instructions from Gotham City's Mayor Hamilton Hill to sabotage Commissioner Gordon's career. His method of doing so is to pretend to be exceedingly clumsy, thereby spoiling whatever Gordon is trying to do, seemingly accidentally. After inadvertently giving Gordon a heart attack, however, Bullock turns over a new leaf and becomes an honest cop. |
| Jack Forbes | ' #1 | Member of Gotham Police Department's internal affairs. He became the new Commissioner after James Gordon's imprisonment and he had secretly allied himself with Carmine Falcone. |
| Lex Luthor | Action Comics #23 | Though Superman's primary foe, Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor attempted to illegally acquire a vast percentage of Gotham's property during the No Man's Land incident, but he was stopped by the efforts of Bruce Wayne and Lucius Fox. Later, when Luthor became President, he framed Bruce Wayne for murder. Eventually, Luthor was revealed as a criminal and deposed from the Presidency by Superman and Batman. Eventually, Luthor learned that Bruce Wayne is Batman. |
| Mayor Armand Krol | Detective Comics #647 | More incompetent than malicious, Krol had a strong dislike of Commissioner Gordon, demoting and replacing him with his wife, Sarah Essen Gordon. During Krol's last days in office, Gotham descended into near anarchy after Ra's al Ghul released the "Clench" virus during the ' story arc. He died after contracting the virus. |
| Mayor Daniel Danforth Dickerson III | Detective Comics #743 | Dickerson is the corrupt mayor of Gotham beginning after No Man's Land and remaining in office until his assassination by the Joker. |
| Mayor David Hull | Gotham Central #13 | David Hull was Deputy Mayor under Dickerson and was his replacement. |
| Mayor Hamilton Hill | Detective Comics #511 | Hamilton Hill is a corrupt politician who became mayor of Gotham City thanks to Rupert Thorne. He helped Thorne oppose Batman, notably by firing Commissioner James Gordon. |
| Mayor Sebastian Hady | Batman #693 | Introduced in Batman as an immensely corrupt and ruthless politician, and has publicly admitted to cheating on his wife. He was taken hostage by Azrael during the events of "Judgement on Gotham", but was rescued by Red Robin. He also tried to frame Commissioner Gordon for murder during the early days of Batman Incorporated, but Batman easily exposed the allegations as false. |
Allies in conflict
Some characters generally considered to be allies, yet have come into conflict with Batman.In alphabetical order :
| Villain | Creator | First appearance | Fictional biography |
| Bat-Mite | Bob Kane Bill Finger | Detective Comics #267 | Bat-Mite is an imp similar to the Superman villain Mister Mxyzptlk. Appearing as a small childlike man in an ill-fitting Batman costume, Bat-Mite possesses near-infinite magical powers and comes from another dimension. Bat-Mite idolizes Batman, and thus he has visited Batman on various occasions, often setting up strange events so that he could see his hero in action. Bat-Mite is arguably more of a nuisance than an enemy to Batman, and often leaves the hero alone when he realizes that he has angered his idol. |
| Jason Todd | Gerry Conway Don Newton | Batman #357 | Jason Todd became the second Robin when the previous Robin, Dick Grayson, went on to leave Batman in order to become Nightwing. After the character was killed off, he was resurrected as an enemy of Batman, becoming Red Hood and assuming a new role as an anti-hero. |
| Superman | Jerry Siegel Joe Shuster | Action Comics #1 | Despite usually being an ally to Batman, on many occasions throughout the decades, Batman has had to battle Superman for various reasons including idealistic differences, mind control by a supervillain, and even simple misunderstandings. |
| Wingman | Bob Kane Bill Finger | Batman #65 | A former ally and student of Batman and a member of the Batmen of All Nations, it was Benedict Rundstrom's jealousy of Batman that drove him to try to kill Batman and the other heroes who were the Batmen of All Nations. |
In other media
Reception
Batman's rogues gallery has received critical acclaim, cited by many journalists as one of the greatest rogues galleries in all of comic books. Newsarama ranked Batman's villains as the second-greatest comic book rogues gallery of all time, only preceded by that of Spider-Man, stating that the Dark Knight Detective is one of comics' most enduring, most iconic, and most popular characters, and none of that would be possible without the denizens of Gotham City's dense and dangerous underworld. Batman may be a household name, but the Joker, the Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Catwoman, Two-Face, and the Riddler are just as recognizable."The internet blog io9 observed that "much of the appeal of Batman is that, unlike other superheroes, he's simply a person who has pushed himself to the edge of his natural limits. The flipside of that, though, is that the villains he faces are also by and large simply people with a single, notable obsession—and that's why they're so much more interesting than the usual set of villains." According to What Culture!, "Batman's villains stand in stark contrast to the other rogues galleries in comics lore; they're an unusual collection of freaks who generally blame the Dark Knight for their existence to begin with. Batman villains are usually cut off from reality, often coming to terms with a deranged part of their psyche—mirroring the darkness and split that also defines the Bat." HitFix praised Batman's rogues gallery, stating that "Great heroes are defined by the villains they face, and no group of evil-doers, murderers, criminals and psychopaths are greater than those stalking Gotham City. From murderous clowns, to cerebral assassins, to brutish monsters, Batman has a literal murderer's row of foes that constantly test his crime fighting acumen."